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Molecular architecture of muscles in an acoel and its evolutionary implications
Author(s) -
Chiodin Marta,
Achatz Johannes G.,
Wanninger Andreas,
Martinez Pedro
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of experimental zoology part b: molecular and developmental evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1552-5015
pISSN - 1552-5007
DOI - 10.1002/jez.b.21416
Subject(s) - tropomyosin , bilateria , biology , sarcomere , actin , gene , myofilament , anatomy , microbiology and biotechnology , troponin , evolutionary biology , myocyte , genetics , phylogenetic tree , psychology , psychiatry , myocardial infarction
We have characterized the homologs of an actin, a troponin I, and a tropomyosin gene in the acoel Symsagittifera roscoffensis . These genes are expressed in muscles and most likely coexpressed in at least a subset of them. In addition, and for the first time for Acoela, we have produced a species‐specific muscular marker, an antibody against the tropomyosin protein. We have followed tropomyosin gene and protein expression during postembryonic development and during the posterior regeneration of amputated adults, showing that preexisting muscle fibers contribute to the wound closure. The three genes characterized in this study interact in the striated muscles of vertebrates and invertebrates, where troponin I and tropomyosin are key regulators of the contraction of the sarcomere. S. roscoffensis and all other acoels so far described have only smooth muscles, but the molecular architecture of these is the same as that of striated fibers of other bilaterians. Given the proposed basal position of acoels within the Bilateria, we suggest that sarcomeric muscles arose from a smooth muscle type, which had the molecular repertoire of striated musculature already in place. We discuss this model in a broad comparative perspective. J. Exp. Zool. (Mol. Dev. Evol.) 316:427–439, 2011 . © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.