Open AccessExperimentally based sea urchin gene regulatory network and the causal explanation of developmental phenomenology
Author(s) -
BenTabou deLeon Smadar,
Davidson Eric H.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
wiley interdisciplinary reviews: systems biology and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.087
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1939-005X
pISSN - 1939-5094
DOI - 10.1002/wsbm.24
Subject(s) - gene regulatory network , sea urchin , biology , evolutionary biology , cell fate determination , regulation of gene expression , computational biology , gene , evolutionary developmental biology , transcription factor , gene expression , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology
Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) for development underlie cell fate specification and differentiation. Network topology, logic, and dynamics can be obtained by thorough experimental analysis. Our understanding of the GRN controlling endomesoderm specification in the sea urchin embryo has attained an advanced level such that it explains developmental phenomenology. Here we review how the network explains the mechanisms utilized in development to control the formation of dynamic expression patterns of transcription factors and signaling molecules. The network represents the genomic program controlling timely activation of specification and differentiation genes in the correct embryonic lineages. It can also be used to study evolution of body plans. We demonstrate how comparing the sea urchin GRN to that of the sea star and to that of later developmental stages in the sea urchin, reveals mechanisms underlying the origin of evolutionary novelty. The experimentally based GRN for endomesoderm specification in the sea urchin embryo provides unique insights into the system level properties of cell fate specification and its evolution. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. This article is categorized under: Physiology > Physiology of Model Organisms