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Yamauchi K, Kasai K. Sequential Molecular Events of Functional Trade-Offs in 5-Hydroxyisourate Hydrolase Before and After Gene Duplication Led to the Evolution of Transthyretin During Chordate Diversification. J Mol Evol 2018; 86:457-469. [PMID: 30056594 DOI: 10.1007/s00239-018-9858-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2018] [Accepted: 07/21/2018] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Transthyretin (TTR), a plasma thyroid hormone distributor protein (THDP), emerged from 5-hydroxyisourate hydrolase (HIUHase), an enzyme involved in urate metabolism, by gene duplication at a stage of chordate evolution. Comparison of amino acid sequences revealed the presence of two His-rich segments in the primitive TTRs. Using several HIUHase and TTR mutants, we investigated 5-hydroxyisourate (HIU) hydrolysis activity and thyroid hormone (TH) binding activity to elucidate how a novel function as a THDP arose. Lancelet HIUHase was found to have higher enzyme activity than trout HIUHase. Two amino acid substitutions, R54E/Y119T, at the active sites of HIUHase, exerted weak [125I]-3,3',5-triiodo-L-thyronine ([125I]T3) binding activity with a concomitant loss of HIU hydrolysis activity. Addition of 3×His (3×H) to the N-terminal end weakened HIU hydrolysis activity of both lancelet and trout HIUHases, whereas it enhanced T3-binding activity of HIUHase R54E/Y119T. Trout HIUHase 3×H R54E/Y119T had higher [125I]T3-binding activity than that of lancelet HIUHase 3×H R54E/Y119T, with a Kd of 143 nM, and displayed metal dependency and no TH binding specificity. Deletion of the N-terminal His-rich segment from lamprey TTR decreased T3-binding activity, while addition of 3×H to trout TTR increased T3-binding activity, while maintaining TH binding specificity. Our results suggest that functional trade-offs of HIU hydrolysis activity with TH binding activity might have sequentially occurred before and after gene duplication, and that TH binding specificity and high-affinity sites may have been acquired later in the course of TTR evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kiyoshi Yamauchi
- Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Shizuoka University, 836 Ohya, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, 422-8529, Japan.
| | - Kentaro Kasai
- Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Shizuoka University, 836 Ohya, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, 422-8529, Japan
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Zaitseva OV, Romanov VN, Markosova TG. Distribution of NADPH-diaphorase activity in organs and tissues of adult ascidians. DOKLADY BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES : PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE USSR, BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES SECTIONS 2012; 444:180-183. [PMID: 22760619 DOI: 10.1134/s0012496612030088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2011] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- O V Zaitseva
- Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
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Kawada T, Ogasawara M, Sekiguchi T, Aoyama M, Hotta K, Oka K, Satake H. Peptidomic analysis of the central nervous system of the protochordate, Ciona intestinalis: homologs and prototypes of vertebrate peptides and novel peptides. Endocrinology 2011; 152:2416-27. [PMID: 21467196 DOI: 10.1210/en.2010-1348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
The phylogenetic position of ascidians as the chordate invertebrates closest to vertebrates suggests that they might possess homologs and/or prototypes of vertebrate peptide hormones and neuropeptides as well as ascidian-specific peptides. However, only a small number of peptides have so far been identified in ascidians. In the present study, we have identified various peptides in the ascidian, Ciona intestinalis. Mass spectrometry-based peptidomic analysis detected 33 peptides, including 26 novel peptides, from C. intestinalis. The ascidian peptides are largely classified into three categories: 1) prototypes and homologs of vertebrate peptides, such as galanin/galanin-like peptide, which have never been identified in any invertebrates; 2) peptides partially homologous with vertebrate peptides, including novel neurotesin-like peptides; 3) novel peptides. These results not only provide evidence that C. intestinalis possesses various homologs and prototypes of vertebrate neuropeptides and peptide hormones but also suggest that several of these peptides might have diverged in the ascidian-specific evolutionary lineage. All Ciona peptide genes were expressed in the neural complex, whereas several peptide gene transcripts were also distributed in peripheral tissues, including the ovary. Furthermore, a Ciona neurotensin-like peptide, C. intestinalis neurotensin-like peptide 6, was shown to down-regulate growth of Ciona vitellogenic oocytes. These results suggest that the Ciona peptides act not only as neuropeptides in the neural tissue but also as hormones in nonneuronal tissues and that ascidians, unlike other invertebrates, such as nematodes, insects, and sea urchins, established an evolutionary origin of the peptidergic neuroendocrine, endocrine, and nervous systems of vertebrates with certain specific molecular diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tsuyoshi Kawada
- Suntory Institute for Bioorganic Research, Shimamoto, Mishima, Osaka 618-8503, Japan
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Cognigni P, Bailey AP, Miguel-Aliaga I. Enteric neurons and systemic signals couple nutritional and reproductive status with intestinal homeostasis. Cell Metab 2011; 13:92-104. [PMID: 21195352 PMCID: PMC3038267 DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2010.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 214] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2010] [Revised: 08/26/2010] [Accepted: 11/08/2010] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The gastrointestinal tract is emerging as a key regulator of appetite and metabolism, but daunting neuroanatomical complexity has hampered identification of the relevant signals. Invertebrate models could provide a simple and genetically amenable alternative, but their autonomic nervous system and its visceral functions remain largely unexplored. Here we develop a quantitative method based on defecation behavior to uncover a central role for the Drosophila intestine in the regulation of nutrient intake, fluid, and ion balance. We then identify a key homeostatic role for autonomic neurons and hormones, including a brain-gut circuit of insulin-producing neurons modulating appetite, a vasopressin-like system essential for fluid homeostasis, and enteric neurons mediating sex peptide-induced changes in intestinal physiology. These conserved mechanisms of visceral control, analogous to those found in the enteric nervous system and hypothalamic/pituitary axis, enable the study of autonomic control in a model organism that has proved instrumental in understanding sensory and motor systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paola Cognigni
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - Andrew P. Bailey
- Division of Developmental Neurobiology, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, UK
| | - Irene Miguel-Aliaga
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
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Kano S. Genomics and Developmental Approaches to an Ascidian Adenohypophysis Primordium. Integr Comp Biol 2010; 50:35-52. [DOI: 10.1093/icb/icq050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
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Freamat M, Sower SA. Functional divergence of glycoprotein hormone receptors. Integr Comp Biol 2010; 50:110-23. [PMID: 21558192 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icq045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Two lamprey glycoprotein hormone receptors (lGpH-R I and II) highly similar with gnathostome GpH-Rs were cloned from sea lamprey testes and thyroid, respectively. Vertebrate glycoprotein protein receptors have a large extracellular domain (ED) containing a leu rich domain (LRD) linked to a rhodopsin-like transmembrane domain (TMD) through a highly divergent linker region (signal specificity domain, SSD or 'hinge' region) and a third major segment, the intracellular domain. To determine the potential roles of the different domains in the activation of the receptor following ligand-receptor binding, functional assays were performed on lGpH-R I/rat luteinizing hormone (LH)-R domain swapped chimeric receptors. These results show that the functional roles of the lamprey glycoprotein-receptor I (lGpH-R I) domains are conserved compared with its Gnathostome homologs. The ability of different glycoprotein hormones to activate chimeric lamprey/rat receptors suggests that the selectivity of the GpH-Rs in respect to their ligands is not controlled exclusively by a single domain but is the result of specific interactions between domains. We hypothesize that these interactions were refined during millions of years of co-evolution of the receptors with their cognate ligands under particular intramolecular, intermolecular and physiological constraints.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mihael Freamat
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Center for Molecular and Comparative Endocrinology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
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The gastrointestinal tract as an endocrine/neuroendocrine/paracrine organ: organization, chemical messengers and physiological targets. FISH PHYSIOLOGY 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/s1546-5098(10)03007-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
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Tello JA, Sherwood NM. Amphioxus: beginning of vertebrate and end of invertebrate type GnRH receptor lineage. Endocrinology 2009; 150:2847-56. [PMID: 19264870 DOI: 10.1210/en.2009-0028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
In vertebrates, activation of the GnRH receptor is necessary to initiate the reproductive cascade. However, little is known about the characteristics of GnRH receptors before the vertebrates evolved. Recently genome sequencing was completed for amphioxus, Branchiostoma floridae. To understand the GnRH receptors (GnRHR) from this most basal chordate, which is also classified as an invertebrate, we cloned and characterized four GnRHR cDNAs encoded in the amphioxus genome. We found that incubation of GnRH1 (mammalian GnRH) and GnRH2 (chicken GnRH II) with COS7 cells heterologously expressing the amphioxus GnRHRs caused potent intracellular inositol phosphate turnover in two of the receptors. One of the two receptors displayed a clear preference for GnRH1 over GnRH2, a characteristic not previously seen outside the type I mammalian GnRHRs. Phylogenetic analysis grouped the four receptors into two paralogous pairs, with one pair grouping basally with the vertebrate GnRH receptors and the other grouping with the octopus GnRHR-like sequence and the related receptor for insect adipokinetic hormone. Pharmacological studies showed that octopus GnRH-like peptide and adipokinetic hormone induced potent inositol phosphate turnover in one of these other two amphioxus receptors. These data demonstrate the functional conservation of two distinct types of GnRH receptors at the base of chordates. We propose that one receptor type led to vertebrate GnRHRs, whereas the other type, related to the mollusk GnRHR-like receptor, was lost in the vertebrate lineage. This is the first report to suggest that distinct invertebrate and vertebrate GnRHRs are present simultaneously in a basal chordate, amphioxus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javier A Tello
- Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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Kessler J, Obinger C, Eales G. Factors influencing the study of peroxidase-generated iodine species and implications for thyroglobulin synthesis. Thyroid 2008; 18:769-74. [PMID: 18631006 DOI: 10.1089/thy.2007.0310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
A key issue in the mechanism of thyroglobulin (Tg) iodination by thyroperoxidase (TPO) is whether a TPO-bound iodine intermediate directly iodinates Tg-incorporated tyrosines (specific iodination) or whether reactive iodine species released from TPO effectuate Tg iodination (nonspecific iodination). We addressed these alternatives by (a) determining the aqueous equilibria of the iodine species potentially involved in the kinetic studies of TPO-mediated iodination, and (b) reviewing the structure of the substrate channel in mammalian peroxidases. Redox-potentiometric analysis of aqueous iodine combined with integrated mathematical modelling demonstrates that I2 reacts with water to form several iodine species including hypoiodious acid (HOI). The HOI/I2 ratio depends on time, iodide concentration, buffering agents, and pH varying dramatically from pH 4 to 7.4. These factors may confound the use of Michaelis-Menten kinetics to determine the mechanism of TPO-catalyzed iodination since both I2 and HOI iodinate tyrosine but with different specificities and reaction rates. Consequently there is as yet no conclusive kinetic evidence that iodination occurs via formation of a TPO-bound iodinated intermediate. Furthermore, knowledge of TPO structure, gained from X-ray crystallographic studies indicates that access of Tg-bound tyrosyl groups to the active site of TPO is not possible. Thus the emerging conclusion is that the mechanism of Tg iodination is nonspecific. This is consistent with the occurrence of thyroid hormone formation in prevertebrate ascidians which exhibit TPO-like activity but lack the Tg gene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jack Kessler
- Symbollon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Framingham, Massachusetts, USA.
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Expression of the amphioxus Pit-1 gene (AmphiPOU1F1/Pit-1) exclusively in the developing preoral organ, a putative homolog of the vertebrate adenohypophysis. Brain Res Bull 2008; 75:324-30. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2007.10.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2007] [Accepted: 10/17/2007] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
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Lambert CC. Signaling pathways in ascidian oocyte maturation: the role of cyclic AMP and follicle cells in germinal vesicle breakdown. Dev Growth Differ 2008; 50:181-8. [PMID: 18312430 DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-169x.2008.00983.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Many ascidian oocytes undergo 'spontaneous' germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) when transferred from the ovary to normal pH 8.2 sea water (SW); however, low pH inhibits GVBD, which can then be stimulated while remaining in the low pH SW. Oocytes of Boltenia villosa blocked from GVBD by pH 4 SW undergo GVBD in response to permeant cyclic AMP (8-bromo-cyclic AMP), phosphodiesterase inhibitors (isobutylmethylxanthine and theophylline) or the adenylyl cyclase activator forskolin. This suggests that cAMP increases during GVBD. Removal of the follicle cells or addition of a protease inhibitor inhibits GVBD in response to raised pH but not to forskolin, theophylline or 8 bromo-cAMP. Isolated follicle cells in low pH SW release protease activity in response to an increase in pH. These studies imply that the follicle cells release protease activity, which either itself stimulates an increase in oocyte cAMP level or reacts with other molecules to stimulate this process. Studies with the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase inhibitors U0126 and CI 1040 suggest that MAP kinase is not involved in GVBD. The Cdc25 inhibitor NSC 95397 inhibits GVBD at 200 nm in a reversible manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles C Lambert
- University of Washington Friday Harbor Laboratories, 620 University Road, Friday Harbor, WA 98250, USA.
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Lacalli T. Mucus secretion and transport in amphioxus larvae: organization and ultrastructure of the food trapping system, and implications for head evolution. ACTA ZOOL-STOCKHOLM 2007. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1463-6395.2007.00310.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
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Kah O, Lethimonier C, Somoza G, Guilgur LG, Vaillant C, Lareyre JJ. GnRH and GnRH receptors in metazoa: a historical, comparative, and evolutive perspective. Gen Comp Endocrinol 2007; 153:346-64. [PMID: 17350014 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2007.01.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 174] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2006] [Accepted: 01/21/2007] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
About 50years after Harris's first demonstration of its existence, GnRH has strongly stimulated the interest and imagination of scientists, resulting in a high number of studies in an increasing number of species. For the endocrinologist, GnRH, via its actions on the synthesis and release of pituitary gonadotrophins, is first an essential hormone for the initiation and maintenance of the reproductive axis, but recent data suggest that GnRH emerged in animals lacking a pituitary. In this context, this review intends to explore the current status of knowledge on GnRH and GnRH receptors in metazoa in order to see if it is possible to draw an evolutive scenario according to which GnRH actions progressively evolved from the control of simple basic functions in early metazoa to an indirect mean of controlling gonadal activity in vertebrates through a sophisticated network of finely tuned neurons developing in a rather fascinating way. This review also intends to provide an evolutive scenario based on the recent advances of whole genome sequencing possibly explaining the number of GnRH and GnRH receptor variants according to the 2R and 3R theories accompanied by gene losses.
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Affiliation(s)
- O Kah
- Endocrinologie Moléculaire de la Reproduction, UMR CNRS 6026, Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes Cedex, France.
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Sherwood NM, Tello JA, Roch GJ. Neuroendocrinology of protochordates: Insights from Ciona genomics. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2006; 144:254-71. [PMID: 16413805 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2005.11.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2005] [Revised: 11/07/2005] [Accepted: 11/10/2005] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The genome for two species of Ciona is available making these tunicates excellent models for studies on the evolution of the chordates. In this review most of the data is from Ciona intestinalis, as the annotation of the C. savignyi genome is not yet available. The phylogenetic position of tunicates at the origin of the chordates and the nature of the genome before expansion in vertebrates allows tunicates to be used as a touchstone for understanding genes that either preceded or arose in vertebrates. A comparison of Ciona, a sea squirt, to other model organisms such as a nematode, fruit fly, zebrafish, frog, chicken and mouse shows that Ciona has many useful traits including accessibility for embryological, lineage tracing, forward genetics, and loss- or gain-of-function experiments. For neuroendocrine studies, these traits are important for determining gene function, whereas the availability of the genome is critical for identification of ligands, receptors, transcription factors and signaling pathways. Four major neurohormones and their receptors have been identified by cloning and to some extent by function in Ciona: gonadotropin-releasing hormone, insulin, insulin-like growth factor, and cionin, a member of the CCK/gastrin family. The simplicity of tunicates should be an advantage in searching for novel functions for these hormones. Other neuroendocrine components that have been annotated in the genome are a multitude of receptors, which are available for cloning, expression and functional studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nancy M Sherwood
- Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C., Canada V8W 3N5.
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Mackie GO, Burighel P. The nervous system in adult tunicates: current research directions. CAN J ZOOL 2005. [DOI: 10.1139/z04-177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
This review covers 25 years of progress on structural, functional, and developmental neurobiology of adult tunicates. The focus is on ascidians rather than pelagic species. The ascidian brain and peripheral nervous system are considered from the point of view of ultrastructure, neurotransmitters, regulatory peptides, and electrical activity. Sensory reception and effector control are stressed. Discussion of the dorsal strand plexus centres on its relationship with photoreceptors, the presence in it of gonadotropin-releasing hormone and its role in reproductive control. In addition to hydrodynamic sense organs based on primary sensory neurons (cupular organs), ascidians are now known to have coronal sense organs based on axonless hair cells resembling those of the vertebrate acustico-lateralis system. The peripheral nervous system is remarkable in that the motor neuron terminals are apparently interconnected synaptically, providing the equivalent of a nerve net. Development of the neural complex in ascidians is reviewed, highlighting recent embryological and molecular evidence for stomodeal, neurohypophyseal, and atrial placodes. The nervous system forms similarly during embryogenesis in the oozooid and blastogenesis in colonial forms. The regeneration of the brain in Ciona intestinalis (L., 1767) is discussed in relation to normal neurogenesis. Finally, the viviparous development of salps is considered, where recent work traces the early development of the brain, outgrowth of nerve roots, and the targetting of motor nerves to the appropriate muscles.
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Wicht H, Lacalli TC. The nervous system of amphioxus: structure, development, and evolutionary significance. CAN J ZOOL 2005. [DOI: 10.1139/z04-163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Amphioxus neuroanatomy is important not just in its own right but also for the insights it provides regarding the evolutionary origin and basic organization of the vertebrate nervous system. This review summarizes the overall layout of the central nervous system (CNS), peripheral nerves, and nerve plexuses in amphioxus, and what is currently known of their histology and cell types, with special attention to new information on the anterior nerve cord. The intercalated region (IR) is of special functional and evolutionary interest. It extends caudally to the end of somite 4, traditionally considered the limit of the brain-like region of the amphioxus CNS, and is notable for the presence of a number of migrated cell groups. Unlike most other neurons in the cord, these migrated cells detach from the ventricular lumen and move into the adjacent neuropile, much as developing neurons do in vertebrates. The larval nervous system is also considered, as there is a wealth of new data on the organization and cell types of the anterior nerve cord in young larvae, based on detailed electron microscopical analyses and nerve tracing studies, and an emerging consensus regarding how this region relates to the vertebrate brain. Much less is known about the intervening period of the life history, i.e., the period between the young larva and the adult, but a great deal of neural development must occur during this time to generate a fully mature nervous system. It is especially interesting that the vertebrate counterparts of at least some postembryonic events of amphioxus neurogenesis occur, in vertebrates, in the embryo. The implication is that the whole of the postembryonic phase of neural development in amphioxus needs to be considered when making phylogenetic comparisons. Yet this is a period about which almost nothing is known. Considering this, plus the number of new molecular and immunocytochemical techniques now available to researchers, there is no shortage of worthwhile research topics using amphioxus, of whatever stage, as a subject.
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Lambert CC. Historical introduction, overview, and reproductive biology of the protochordates. CAN J ZOOL 2005. [DOI: 10.1139/z04-160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
This issue of the Canadian Journal of Zoology exhaustively reviews most major aspects of protochordate biology by specialists in their fields. Protochordates are members of two deuterostome phyla that are exclusively marine. The Hemichordata, with solitary enteropneusts and colonial pterobranchs, share a ciliated larva with echinoderms and appear to be closely related, but they also have many chordate-like features. The invertebrate chordates are composed of the exclusively solitary cephalochordates and the tunicates with both solitary and colonial forms. The cephalochordates are all free-swimming, but the tunicates include both sessile and free-swimming forms. Here I explore the history of research on protochordates, show how views on their relationships have changed with time, and review some of their reproductive and structural traits not included in other contributions to this special issue.
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Castro A, Becerra M, Manso MJ, Sherwood NM, Anadón R. Anatomy of the Hesse photoreceptor cell axonal system in the central nervous system of amphioxus. J Comp Neurol 2005; 494:54-62. [PMID: 16304679 DOI: 10.1002/cne.20783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
The present study reports the organization of the Hesse cell axonal system in the central nervous system of the amphioxus, with the use of a polyclonal antiserum raised against lamprey gonadotropin-releasing hormone-I (GnRH-I). In the spinal cord, the rhabdomeric photoreceptor cells of the bicellular organs were well labeled with this antibody. These cells sent smooth, straight, lateral processes that bent and became beaded as they passed ventrally and crossed to the contralateral side of the cord. There, the processes of several cells aggregated to give rise to a longitudinal fiber bundle. Beaded collaterals of these processes were directed to ventral neuropil and did not appear to contact giant Rohde cell axons. The crossed projections of the Hesse photoreceptors are compared with those of vertebrate retinal ganglion cells. Other antisera raised against GnRH weakly labeled rhabdomeric photoreceptors located dorsally in the brain, the Joseph cells. The finding that GnRH antibodies label amphioxus photoreceptor cells and axons is not definitive proof that the photoreceptors contain GnRH. Regardless of whether the antibody recognizes amphioxus GnRH, which has not yet been identified by structure, the antibody has revealed the processes of the Hesse photoreceptor cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Castro
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of A Coruña, Spain
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