1
|
Saxena A, Sharma V, Muthuirulan P, Neufeld SJ, Tran MP, Gutierrez HL, Chen KD, Erberich JM, Birmingham A, Capellini TD, Cobb J, Hiller M, Cooper KL. Interspecies transcriptomics identify genes that underlie disproportionate foot growth in jerboas. Curr Biol 2022; 32:289-303.e6. [PMID: 34793695 PMCID: PMC8792248 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.10.063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2021] [Revised: 07/16/2021] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Despite the great diversity of vertebrate limb proportion and our deep understanding of the genetic mechanisms that drive skeletal elongation, little is known about how individual bones reach different lengths in any species. Here, we directly compare the transcriptomes of homologous growth cartilages of the mouse (Mus musculus) and bipedal jerboa (Jaculus jaculus), the latter of which has "mouse-like" arms but extremely long metatarsals of the feet. Intersecting gene-expression differences in metatarsals and forearms of the two species revealed that about 10% of orthologous genes are associated with the disproportionately rapid elongation of neonatal jerboa feet. These include genes and enriched pathways not previously associated with endochondral elongation as well as those that might diversify skeletal proportion in addition to their known requirements for bone growth throughout the skeleton. We also identified transcription regulators that might act as "nodes" for sweeping differences in genome expression between species. Among these, Shox2, which is necessary for proximal limb elongation, has gained expression in jerboa metatarsals where it has not been detected in other vertebrates. We show that Shox2 is sufficient to increase mouse distal limb length, and a nearby putative cis-regulatory region is preferentially accessible in jerboa metatarsals. In addition to mechanisms that might directly promote growth, we found evidence that jerboa foot elongation may occur in part by de-repressing latent growth potential. The genes and pathways that we identified here provide a framework to understand the modular genetic control of skeletal growth and the remarkable malleability of vertebrate limb proportion.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aditya Saxena
- Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Virag Sharma
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstraße 108, Dresden 01307, Germany; Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nothnitzerstraße 38, Dresden 01187, Germany
| | - Pushpanathan Muthuirulan
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Stanley J Neufeld
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - Mai P Tran
- Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Haydee L Gutierrez
- Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Kevin D Chen
- Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Joel M Erberich
- Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Amanda Birmingham
- Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Terence D Capellini
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - John Cobb
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - Michael Hiller
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstraße 108, Dresden 01307, Germany; Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nothnitzerstraße 38, Dresden 01187, Germany
| | - Kimberly L Cooper
- Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Neufeld SJ, Zhou X, Vize PD, Cobb J. mRNA fluorescence in situ hybridization to determine overlapping gene expression in whole-mount mouse embryos. Dev Dyn 2013; 242:1094-100. [PMID: 23749471 DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.23993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2013] [Revised: 05/24/2013] [Accepted: 05/25/2013] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Whole-mount in situ hybridization (ISH) is a prevalent tool to examine the spatial distribution of gene transcripts in intact embryos. Chromogenic-based methods of signal development are commonly used in mouse embryos because of their high sensitivity. Fluorescence techniques, however, offer several advantages over chromogenic methods including the ability to visualize multiple signals in a specimen at once. RESULTS We describe a procedure for fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for whole mouse embryos up to embryonic day 13.5. We show that this approach successfully produces a bright expression signal for several genes, validating the procedure in multiple tissues. Further, we show that double FISH can be used to visualize the expression of two genes in a single embryo by determining that Hoxd13 and Shh are co-expressed in both the limb bud and the hindgut. Finally, we demonstrate that FISH can be paired with confocal microscopy to take optical sections of interior regions of the embryo. CONCLUSIONS FISH is a valid alternative to chromogenic-based ISH for visualizing gene expression in whole mouse embryos. This work provides a framework to add additional fluorescence signals in the mouse such as visualizing both mRNA and protein by pairing the procedure with immunofluorescence.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stanley J Neufeld
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|