Premium
Gene regulatory landscape of the sonic hedgehog locus in embryonic development
Author(s) -
Amano Takanori
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
development, growth and differentiation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.864
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1440-169X
pISSN - 0012-1592
DOI - 10.1111/dgd.12668
Subject(s) - biology , vertebrate , regulatory sequence , gene regulatory network , gene , regulation of gene expression , sonic hedgehog , evolutionary biology , phenotype , genetics , gene expression , regulator gene , developmental biology , computational biology , hedgehog
Abstract The organs of vertebrate species display a wide variety of morphology. A remaining challenge in evolutionary developmental biology is to elucidate how vertebrate lineages acquire distinct morphological features. Developmental programs are driven by spatiotemporal regulation of gene expression controlled by hundreds of thousands of cis‐regulatory elements. Changes in the regulatory elements caused by the introduction of genetic variants can confer regulatory innovation that may underlie morphological novelties. Recent advances in sequencing technology have revealed a number of potential regulatory variants that can alter gene expression patterns. However, a limited number of studies demonstrate causal dependence between genetic and morphological changes. Regulation of Shh expression is a good model to understand how multiple regulatory elements organize tissue‐specific gene expression patterns. This model also provides insights into how evolution of molecular traits, such as gene regulatory networks, lead to phenotypic novelty.