Dataset Information

Towards a gene regulatory network shaping the fins of the Princess cichlid.

ABSTRACT: Variation in fin shape and size contributes to the outstanding morphological diversity of teleost fishes, but the regulation of fin growth has not yet been studied extensively outside the zebrafish model. A previous gene expression study addressing the ornamental elongations of unpaired fins in the African cichlid fish Neolamprologus brichardi identified three genes (cx43, mmp9 and sema3d) with strong and consistent expression differences between short and elongated fin regions. Remarkably, the expression patterns of these genes were not consistent with inferences on their regulatory interactions in zebrafish. Here, we identify a gene expression network (GRN) comprising cx43, mmp9, and possibly also sema3d by a stepwise approach of identifying co-expression modules and predicting their upstream regulators. Among the transcription factors (TFs) predicted as potential upstream regulators of 11 co-expressed genes, six TFs (foxc1, foxp1, foxd3, myc, egr2, irf8) showed expression patterns consistent with their cooperative transcriptional regulation of the gene network. Some of these TFs have already been implicated in teleost fish fin regeneration and formation. We particularly discuss the potential function of foxd3 as driver of the network and its role in the unexpected gene expression correlations observed in N. brichardi.

SUBMITTER: Ahi EP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6018552 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Towards a gene regulatory network shaping the fins of the Princess cichlid.

Ahi Ehsan Pashay EP Sefc Kristina M KM

Scientific reports 20180625 1

Variation in fin shape and size contributes to the outstanding morphological diversity of teleost fishes, but the regulation of fin growth has not yet been studied extensively outside the zebrafish model. A previous gene expression study addressing the ornamental elongations of unpaired fins in the African cichlid fish Neolamprologus brichardi identified three genes (cx43, mmp9 and sema3d) with strong and consistent expression differences between short and elongated fin regions. Remarkably, the ...[more]

PMID: 29942008

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Project description:Fish color patterns are among the most diverse phenotypic traits found in the animal kingdom. Understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms that control in chromatophore distribution and pigmentation underlying this diversity is a major goal in developmental and evolutionary biology, which has predominantly been pursued in the zebrafish model system. Here, we apply results from zebrafish work to study a naturally occurring color pattern phenotype in the fins of an African cichlid species from Lake Tanganyika. The cichlid fish Neolamprologus meeli displays a distinct dorsal color pattern, with black and white stripes along the edges of the dorsal fin and of the dorsal half of the caudal fin, corresponding with differences in melanophore density. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms controlling the differences in dorsal and ventral color patterning in the fins, we quantitatively assessed the expression of 15 candidate target genes involved in adult zebrafish pigmentation and stripe formation. For reference gene validation, we screened the expression stability of seven widely expressed genes across the investigated tissue samples and identified tbp as appropriate reference. Relative expression levels of the candidate target genes were compared between the dorsal, striped fin regions and the corresponding uniform, grey-colored regions in the anal and ventral caudal fin. Dorso-ventral expression differences, with elevated levels in both white and black stripes, were observed in two genes, the melanosome protein coding gene pmel and in igsf11, which affects melanophore adhesion, migration and survival. Next, we predicted potential shared upstream regulators of pmel and igsf11. Testing the expression patterns of six predicted transcriptions factors revealed dorso-ventral expression difference of irf1 and significant, negative expression correlation of irf1 with both pmel and igsf11. Based on these results, we propose pmel, igsf11 and irf1 as likely components of the genetic mechanism controlling distinct dorso-ventral color patterns in N. meeli fins.

Dataset Information

Towards a gene regulatory network shaping the fins of the Princess cichlid.

Publications

Towards a gene regulatory network shaping the fins of the Princess cichlid.

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