小柯机器人

英国伦敦大学学院Ferdinand Marlétaz等研究人员合作揭示小鳐鱼的基因组和翼状鳍的演化出现。2023年4月12日，《自然》杂志在线发表了这项成果。

研究人员通过开发小鳐鱼Leucoraja erinacea作为一个基因组模型来研究了这种表型创新的起源。对小鳐鱼的高质量染色体尺度的基因组序列的分析表明，与其他已测序的基因组相比，它保留了许多祖先的有颌脊椎动物的特征，包括许多古老的微染色体。结合基因组比较和发育中的鳍的广泛调控数据集，包括基因表达、染色质占有率和三维构象，研究人员发现鳐鱼特有的基因组重排改变了参与平面细胞极性途径的基因的三维调控景观。对平面细胞极性信号的功能性抑制导致了前鳍尺寸的减少，证实了这一途径是对双鳍动物形态的一个主要贡献者。

研究人员还发现了一个与几个hoxa基因相互作用的鳍特异性增强子，这与hox基因在前胸鳍的表达重新部署相一致，并利用斑马鱼报告实验证实了其激活前鳍转录的潜力。这些发现强调了基因组重组和调控变异在表型演化中的核心作用，并揭示了一种神秘性状的分子起源。

据介绍，鳐鱼是软骨鱼类，其身体结构的特点是增大的翼状胸鳍，使它们能够在底栖环境中茁壮成长。然而，这一独特特征的分子基础仍不清楚。

附：英文原文

Title: The little skate genome and the evolutionary emergence of wing-like fins

Author: Marltaz, Ferdinand, de la Calle-Mustienes, Elisa, Acemel, Rafael D., Paliou, Christina, Naranjo, Silvia, Martnez-Garca, Pedro Manuel, Cases, Ildefonso, Sleight, Victoria A., Hirschberger, Christine, Marcet-Houben, Marina, Navon, Dina, Andrescavage, Ali, Skvortsova, Ksenia, Duckett, Paul Edward, Gonzlez-Rajal, lvaro, Bogdanovic, Ozren, Gibcus, Johan H., Yang, Liyan, Gallardo-Fuentes, Lourdes, Sospedra, Ismael, Lopez-Rios, Javier, Darbellay, Fabrice, Visel, Axel, Dekker, Job, Shubin, Neil, Gabaldn, Toni, Nakamura, Tetsuya, Tena, Juan J., Lupiez, Daro G., Rokhsar, Daniel S., Gmez-Skarmeta, Jos Luis

Issue&Volume: 2023-04-12

Abstract: Skates are cartilaginous fish whose body plan features enlarged wing-like pectoral fins, enabling them to thrive in benthic environments1,2. However, the molecular underpinnings of this unique trait remain unclear. Here we investigate the origin of this phenotypic innovation by developing the little skate Leucoraja erinacea as a genomically enabled model. Analysis of a high-quality chromosome-scale genome sequence for the little skate shows that it preserves many ancestral jawed vertebrate features compared with other sequenced genomes, including numerous ancient microchromosomes. Combining genome comparisons with extensive regulatory datasets in developing fins—including gene expression, chromatin occupancy and three-dimensional conformation—we find skate-specific genomic rearrangements that alter the three-dimensional regulatory landscape of genes that are involved in the planar cell polarity pathway. Functional inhibition of planar cell polarity signalling resulted in a reduction in anterior fin size, confirming that this pathway is a major contributor to batoid fin morphology. We also identified a fin-specific enhancer that interacts with several hoxa genes, consistent with the redeployment of hox gene expression in anterior pectoral fins, and confirmed its potential to activate transcription in the anterior fin using zebrafish reporter assays. Our findings underscore the central role of genome reorganization and regulatory variation in the evolution of phenotypes, shedding light on the molecular origin of an enigmatic trait.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05868-1

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05868-1

Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504
官方网址：http://www.nature.com/
投稿链接：http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html