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Sequence and expression of the zebrafish alpha-actinin gene family reveals conservation and diversification among vertebrates.

ABSTRACT: Alpha-actinins are actin microfilament crosslinking proteins. Vertebrate actinins fall into two classes: the broadly-expressed actinins 1 and 4 (actn1 and actn4) and muscle-specific actinins, actn2 and actn3. Members of this family have numerous roles, including regulation of cell adhesion, cell differentiation, directed cell motility, intracellular signaling, and stabilization of f-actin at the sarcomeric Z-line in muscle. Here we identify five zebrafish actinin genes including two paralogs of ACTN3. We describe the temporal and spatial expression patterns of these genes through embryonic development. All zebrafish actinin genes have unique expression profiles, indicating specialization of each gene. In particular, the muscle actinins display preferential expression in different domains of axial, pharyngeal, and cranial musculature. There is no identified avian actn3 and approximately 16% of humans are null for ACTN3. Duplication of actn3 in the zebrafish indicates that variation in actn3 expression may promote physiological diversity in muscle function among vertebrates.

SUBMITTER: Holterhoff CK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2796163 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Sequence and expression of the zebrafish alpha-actinin gene family reveals conservation and diversification among vertebrates.

Holterhoff Christopher K CK Saunders Rebecca H RH Brito Erika E EE Wagner Daniel S DS

Developmental dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists 20091101 11

Alpha-actinins are actin microfilament crosslinking proteins. Vertebrate actinins fall into two classes: the broadly-expressed actinins 1 and 4 (actn1 and actn4) and muscle-specific actinins, actn2 and actn3. Members of this family have numerous roles, including regulation of cell adhesion, cell differentiation, directed cell motility, intracellular signaling, and stabilization of f-actin at the sarcomeric Z-line in muscle. Here we identify five zebrafish actinin genes including two paralogs of ...[more]

PMID: 19842183

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Project description:BackgroundIn vertebrates the "SONIC HEDGEHOG" signalling pathway has been implicated in cell-fate determination, proliferation and the patterning of many different cell types and organs. As the GLI family members (GLI1, GLI2 and GLI3) are key mediators of hedgehog morphogenetic signals, over the past couple of decades they have been extensively scrutinized by genetic, molecular and biochemical means. Thus, a great deal of information is currently available about the functional aspects of GLI proteins in various vertebrate species. To address the roles of GLI genes in diversifying the repertoire of the Hh signalling and deploying them for the vertebrate specifications, in this study we have examined the evolutionary patterns of vertebrate GLI sequences within and between species.ResultsPhylogenetic tree analysis suggests that the vertebrate GLI1, GLI2 and GLI3 genes diverged after the separation of urochordates from vertebrates and before the tetrapods-bony fishes split. Lineage specific duplication events were also detected. Estimation of mode and strength of selection acting on GLI orthologs demonstrated that all members of the GLI gene family experienced more relaxed selection in teleost fish than in the mammalian lineage. Furthermore, the GLI1 gene appeared to have been exposed to different functional constraints in fish and tetrapod lineages, whilst a similar level of functional constraints on GLI2 and GLI3 was suggested by comparable average non-synonymous (Ka) substitutions across the lineages. A relative rate test suggested that the majority of the paralogous copies of the GLI family analyzed evolved with similar evolutionary rates except GLI1 which evolved at a significantly faster rate than its paralogous counterparts in tetrapods.ConclusionsOur analysis shows that sequence evolutionary patterns of GLI family members are largely correlated with the reported similarities and differences in the functionality of GLI proteins within and between the various vertebrate species. We propose that duplication and divergence of GLI genes has increased in the complexity of vertebrate body plan by recruiting the hedgehog signalling for the novel developmental tasks.

Project description:BackgroundThe Dlx gene family encodes transcription factors involved in the development of a wide variety of morphological innovations that first evolved at the origins of vertebrates or of the jawed vertebrates. This gene family expanded with the two rounds of genome duplications that occurred before jawed vertebrates diversified. It includes at least three bigene pairs sharing conserved regulatory sequences in tetrapods and teleost fish, but has been only partially characterized in chondrichthyans, the third major group of jawed vertebrates. Here we take advantage of developmental and molecular tools applied to the shark Scyliorhinus canicula to fill in the gap and provide an overview of the evolution of the Dlx family in the jawed vertebrates. These results are analyzed in the theoretical framework of the DDC (Duplication-Degeneration-Complementation) model.ResultsThe genomic organisation of the catshark Dlx genes is similar to that previously described for tetrapods. Conserved non-coding elements identified in bony fish were also identified in catshark Dlx clusters and showed regulatory activity in transgenic zebrafish. Gene expression patterns in the catshark showed that there are some expression sites with high conservation of the expressed paralog(s) and other expression sites with events of paralog sub-functionalization during jawed vertebrate diversification, resulting in a wide variety of evolutionary scenarios within this gene family.ConclusionDlx gene expression patterns in the catshark show that there has been little neo-functionalization in Dlx genes over gnathostome evolution. In most cases, one tandem duplication and two rounds of vertebrate genome duplication have led to at least six Dlx coding sequences with redundant expression patterns followed by some instances of paralog sub-functionalization. Regulatory constraints such as shared enhancers, and functional constraints including gene pleiotropy, may have contributed to the evolutionary inertia leading to high redundancy between gene expression patterns.

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Sequence and expression of the zebrafish alpha-actinin gene family reveals conservation and diversification among vertebrates.

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Sequence and expression of the zebrafish alpha-actinin gene family reveals conservation and diversification among vertebrates.

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