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Brachyury ‐downstream gene sets in a chordate, Ciona intestinalis : integrating notochord specification, morphogenesis and chordate evolution
Author(s) -
Hotta Kohji,
Takahashi Hiroki,
Satoh Nori,
Gojobori Takashi
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
evolution and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.651
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1525-142X
pISSN - 1520-541X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1525-142x.2007.00212.x
Subject(s) - brachyury , chordate , biology , notochord , ciona , gastrulation , ciona intestinalis , wnt signaling pathway , gene , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology , mesoderm , computational biology , embryonic stem cell , genome , embryogenesis
SUMMARY In vertebrates, Brachyury , a T‐box transcription factor gene, seems to have a dual role in the differentiation of axial midline mesoderm cells into notochord and gastrulation cell movements regulated by non‐canonical Wnt/planar cell polarity (Wnt/PCP) signaling. To understand the function of Brachyury ‐downstream genes in chordate embryos, from a series of our survey on differential expression, including subtractive hybridization, dot‐blot assays, EST sequences and the expression patterns in whole‐mount in situ hybridization at embryonic stages, we developed a knowledge database called “CINOBI: Ci ona No tochord and B rachyury ‐downstream gene I ndex” to create comprehensive catalogues of Brachyury ‐downstream gene sets in Ciona intestinalis . Combining genome and large‐scale cDNA data, we were able to characterize 450 non‐redundant Brachyury ‐downstream genes: Twenty‐four genes were newly annotated as notochord‐expressed genes. Several genes are components of signaling pathways such as Wnt/PCP, NfκB and TGF‐β signaling. We propose that Brachyury is linked to these pathways regulating the expression of each component, and such a regulatory mechanism might be conserved among chordates.