Unknown,Transcriptomics,Genomics,Proteomics

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Mapping gene expression in two Xenopus: evolutionary constraints and developmental flexibility

ABSTRACT: Variation in gene expression is known to be important for morphological evolution, however little is known about its general propensity. Here we examine a pair of frogs M-bM-^@M-^S Xenopus laevis and Xenopus tropicalis M-bM-^@M-^S with highly similar embryology, and ask how their transcriptomes compare. Despite separation for over ~30-90 million years we found a strong conservation in gene expression in the vast majority of the expressed orthologs. There were a significant number of changes in the level of expression of genes. Changes in timing of expression, heterochrony, were much less common, and were often found in genes and pathways that reflect responses to selective features of the environment. Differences in gene expression levels were concentrated in the earliest embryonic stages. We propose that different evolutionary rates across developmental stages may be explained by the stabilization of cell fate determination pathways in later stages. 96 microarrays, across developmental stages in Xenopus laevis and Xenopus tropicalis in wildtype embryos. For each of the two timecourse indepenent triplicates (clutches) were generated.

ORGANISM(S): Xenopus laevis

SUBMITTER: Itai Yanai

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-27227 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress

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Mapping gene expression in two Xenopus species: evolutionary constraints and developmental flexibility.

Yanai Itai I Peshkin Leonid L Jorgensen Paul P Kirschner Marc W MW

Developmental cell 20110401 4

Changes in gene expression are thought to be important for morphological evolution, though little is known about the nature or magnitude of the differences. Here, we examine Xenopus laevis and Xenopus tropicalis, two amphibians with very similar development, and ask how their transcriptomes compare. Despite separation for ~30-90 million years, there is strong conservation in gene expression in the vast majority of the expressed orthologs. Significant changes occur in the level of gene expression ...[more]

PMID: 21497761

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Project description:Post-translational modifications (PTMs) of histones exert fundamental roles in regulating gene expression. During development, groups of PTMs are constrained by unknown mechanisms into combinatorial patterns, which facilitate transitions from uncommitted embryonic cells into differentiated somatic cell lineages. Repressive histone modifications such as H3K9me3 or H3K27me3 have been investigated in detail, but the role of H4K20me3 in development is currently unknown. Here we show that Xenopus laevis Suv4-20h1 and h2 histone methyltransferases (HMTases) are essential for induction and differentiation of the neuroectoderm. Morpholino-mediated knockdown of the two HMTases leads to a selective and specific downregulation of genes controlling neural induction, thereby effectively blocking differentiation of the neuroectoderm. Global transcriptome analysis supports the notion that these effects arise from the transcriptional deregulation of specific genes rather than widespread, pleiotropic effects. Interestingly, morphant embryos fail to repress the Oct4-related Xenopus gene Oct-25. We validate Oct-25 as direct target of xSu4-20h enzyme-mediated gene repression, showing by chromatin immunoprecipitaton that it is decorated with the H4K20me3 mark downstream of the promoter in normal, but not in double-morphant, embryos. Since knockdown of Oct-25 protein significantly rescues the neural differentiation defect in xSuv4-20h double-morphant embryos, we conclude that the epistatic relationship between Suv4- 20h enzymes and Oct-25 controls the transit from pluripotent to differentiation-competent neural cells. Consistent with these results in Xenopus, murine Suv4-20h1/h2 double-knockout embryonic stem (DKO ES) cells exhibit increased Oct4 protein levels before and during EB formation, and reveal a compromised and biased capacity for in vitro differentiation, when compared to normal ES cells. Together, these results suggest a regulatory mechanism, conserved between amphibian and mammals, in which H4K20me3-dependent restriction of specific POU-V genes directs cell fate decisions, when embryonic cells exit the pluripotent state. Total RNA samples from Xenopus laevis embryos. Transcript levels were analyzed after injection of control or Suv420 morpholinos into blastomeres.

Project description:Exostosin 1 (Ext1) is a glycosyltransferase involved in the biosynthesis of the extracellular matrix Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycan (HSPG). Knockdown of Ext1 caused gastrulation defects and formation of an abnormal body axis. Since ext1 has been implicated as an indirect contributor to multiple signaling pathways in vertebrate development, microarray was used to identify genes expressed in gastrulae that would be affected by a reduction in ext1 expression. Microarray-based comparisons of gene expression in control vs. Ext1 MO embryos showed that Ext1 is involved in regulating genes that are related to metabolic process, development and signaling pathways. Half of the hits from the microarray are uncharacterized genes. Approximately forty-five percent of genes are related to metabolic process and thirty percent of genes are belonged to signaling and developmental process categories. Ten percent of each up-regulated and down-regulated gene set is predicted to function in establishment of localization by GO, which is consistent with EXT1 being involved in the movement of extracellular substances. The transcription factors or signaling protein, Isl1, Pitx2, TBX5A, Wnt5A, Wnt7A, WT1, Pax3, Wnt1, and Xbra were identified as Ext1 regulated genes. This analysis investigating the role of Ext1 during gastrulation and provide the information that EXT1 plays an important role in Xenopus early development. Exostosin 1 (EXT1) is a glycosyltransferase involved in the biosynthesis of the extracellular matrix Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycan (HSPG). Knockdown of EXT1 caused gastrulation defects and formation of an abnormal body axis. Since ext1 has been implicated as an indirect contributor to multiple signaling pathways in vertebrate development, microarray was used to identify genes expressed in gastrulae that would be affected by a reduction in ext1 expression. Microarray-based comparisons of gene expression in control vs. EXT1 MO embryos showed that EXT1 is involved in regulating genes that are related to metabolic process, development and signaling pathways. Half of the hits from the microarray are uncharacterized genes. Approximately forty-five percent of genes are related to metabolic process and thirty percent of genes are belonged to signaling and developmental process categories. Ten percent of each up-regulated and down-regulated gene set is predicted to function in establishment of localization by GO, which is consistent with EXT1 being involved in the movement of extracellular substances. The transcription factors or signaling protein, Isl1, Pitx2, TBX5A, Wnt5A, Wnt7A, WT1, Pax3, Wnt1, and Xbra were identified as EXT1 regulated genes. This analysis investigating the role of EXT1 during gastrulation and provide the information that EXT1 plays an important role in Xenopus early development. The embryos were injected with mispair or Ext1 MO were collected at St. 10.5. The RNA was extracted and for probe synthesis and the hybridization was performed on Affymetrix Xenopus laevis genome v2.0 array. The experiments were repeated for three times. Results of paired control and experimental samples were compared.

Dataset Information

Mapping gene expression in two Xenopus: evolutionary constraints and developmental flexibility

Publications

Mapping gene expression in two Xenopus species: evolutionary constraints and developmental flexibility.

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