Demian Koop

Retinoic acid and Wnt/β-catenin have complementary roles in anterior/posterior patterning embryos of the basal chordate amphioxus

A role for Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in axial patterning has been demonstrated in animals as basal as cnidarians, while roles in axial patterning for retinoic acid (RA) probably evolved in the deuterostomes and may be chordate-specific. In vertebrates, these two pathways interact both directly and indirectly. To investigate the evolutionary origins of interactions between these two pathways, we manipulated Wnt/beta-catenin and RA signaling in the basal chordate amphioxus during the gastrula stage, which is the RA-sensitive period for anterior/posterior (A/P) patterning. The results show that Wnt/beta-catenin and RA signaling have distinctly different roles in patterning the A/P axis of the amphioxus gastrula. Wnt/beta-catenin specifies the identity of the ends of the embryo (high Wnt = posterior; low Wnt = anterior) but not intervening positions. Thus, upregulation of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling induces ectopic expression of posterior markers at the anterior tip of the embryo. In contrast, RA specifies position along the A/P axis, but not the identity of the ends of the embryo-increased RA signaling strongly affects the domains of Hox expression along the A/P axis but has little or no effect on the expression of either anterior or posterior markers. Although the two pathways may both influence such things as specification of neuronal identity, interactions between them in A/P patterning appear to be minimal.

Retinoic acid signaling targets Hox genes during the amphioxus gastrula stage: insights into early anterior-posterior patterning of the chordate body plan.

Previous studies of vertebrate development have shown that retinoic acid (RA) signaling at the gastrula stage strongly influences anterior-posterior (A-P) patterning of the neurula and later stages. However, much less is known about the more immediate effects of RA signaling on gene transcription and developmental patterning at the gastrula stage. To investigate the targets of RA signaling during the gastrula stage, we used the basal chordate amphioxus, in which gastrulation involves very minimal tissue movements. First, we determined the effect of altered RA signaling on expression of 42 genes (encoding transcription factors and components of major signaling cascades) known to be expressed in restricted domains along the A-P axis during the gastrula and early neurula stage. Of these 42 genes, the expression domains during gastrulation of only four (Hox1, Hox3, HNF3-1 and Wnt3) were spatially altered by exposure of the embryos to excess RA or to the RA antagonist BMS009. Moreover, blocking protein synthesis with puromycin before adding RA or BMS009 showed that only three of these genes (Hox1, Hox3 and HNF3-1) are direct RA targets at the gastrula stage. From these results we conclude that in the amphioxus gastrula RA signaling primarily acts via regulation of Hox transcription to establish positional identities along the A-P axis and that Hox1, Hox3, HNF3-1 and Wnt3 constitute a basal module of RA action during chordate gastrulation.

Expression of somite segmentation genes in amphioxus: a clock without a wavefront?

In the basal chordate amphioxus (Branchiostoma), somites extend the full length of the body. The anteriormost somites segment during the gastrula and neurula stages from dorsolateral grooves of the archenteron. The remaining ones pinch off, one at a time, from the tail bud. These posterior somites appear to be homologous to those of vertebrates, even though the latter pinch off from the anterior end of bands of presomitic mesoderm rather than directly from the tail bud. To gain insights into the evolution of mesodermal segmentation in chordates, we determined the expression of ten genes in nascent amphioxus somites. Five (Uncx4.1, NeuroD/atonal-related, IrxA, Pcdhδ2-17/18, and Hey1) are expressed in stripes in the dorsolateral mesoderm at the gastrula stage and in the tail bud while three (Paraxis, Lcx, and Axin) are expressed in the posterior mesendoderm at the gastrula and neurula stages and in the tail bud at later stages. Expression of two genes (Pbx and OligA) suggests roles in the anterior somites that may be unrelated to initial segmentation. Together with previous data, our results indicate that, with the exception that Engrailed is only segmentally expressed in the anterior somites, the genetic mechanisms controlling formation of both the anterior and posterior somites are probably largely identical. Thus, the fundamental pathways for mesodermal segmentation involving Notch–Delta, Wnt/β-catenin, and Fgf signaling were already in place in the common ancestor of amphioxus and vertebrates although budding of somites from bands of presomitic mesoderm exhibiting waves of expression of Notch, Wnt, and Fgf target genes was likely a vertebrate novelty. Given the conservation of segmentation gene expression between amphioxus and vertebrate somites, we propose that the clock mechanism may have been established in the basal chordate, while the wavefront evolved later in the vertebrate lineage.

Developmental expression of the three iroquois genes of amphioxus (BfIrxA, BfIrxB, and BfIrxC) with special attention to the gastrula organizer and anteroposterior boundaries in the central nervous system

Here we describe the developmental expression of the three iroquois genes (BfIrxA, BfIrxB, and BfIrxC) of amphioxus. BfIrxB transcription is first detected at the gastrula stage in mesendoderm just within the dorsal lip of the blastopore (a probable homolog of Spemanns organizer) and in ectoderm. In early neurulae, expression begins in presumptive pharyngeal endoderm, somitic mesoderm, and neural plate. Mid-neurulae express BfIrxB throughout the hindbrain, posterior somites, pharyngeal endoderm, and notochord. In early larvae, expression is largely downregulated in the nerve cord, somites and notochord, but remains strong in the pharyngeal endoderm associated with the forming gill slits; also, a late expression domain appears in the ciliary tuft ectoderm. BfIrxA and BfIrxC, are not as widely expressed as BfIrxB. Both are first expressed in the presumptive hindbrain and presumptive pharyngeal endoderm at the early neurula stages. In the mid-neurula, additional expression domains appear in the extremities of the notochord. Neural expression is downregulated by late neurula. In the early larva, expression is chiefly limited to pharyngeal endoderm associated with the forming gill slits, excepting a small new domain of BfIrxC (not BfIrxA) expression in the ciliary tuft ectoderm. In comparison to developing vertebrates, embryos and larvae of amphioxus express iroquois genes in fewer tissues. Thus, iroquois genes of the proximate ancestor of the vertebrates evidently assumed numerous new roles during vertebrate evolution, including the division of the central nervous system into several sub-regions along its anteroposterior axis.

The basal chordate amphioxus as a simple model for elucidating developmental mechanisms in vertebrates

This review examines the basal chordate, amphioxus, as a simple model for providing insights into the development and evolution of the vertebrates, with which it shares many features, including a pharynx perforated with gill slits, a dorsal nerve cord, segmented muscles, and a notochord. Conversely, amphioxus is simpler than vertebrates in lacking neural crest and paired cephalic sensory organs. Amphioxus embryos are less derived than those of vertebrates, because it lacks large quantities of yolk and/or extra-embryonic tissues. Embryogenesis involves only a simple folding of tissue layers. In addition, the amphioxus genome lacks the large-scale gene duplications of vertebrates. However, in spite of the comparative simplicity of amphioxus, its developmental mechanisms are proving to be highly conserved with those of vertebrates. Thus, studies of amphioxus development can shed light on similar, but more complex, development of vertebrates. Such studies are especially interesting for their insights into the genetic basis of craniofacial birth defects in humans.

Evolution of larval form in the sea star genus Patiriella: Conservation and change in the larval nervous system

The organization of the peptidergic system in the larvae of Patiriella species with divergent ontogenies was compared to determine which aspects of neurogenesis are conserved and which are altered in the evolution of development in these sea stars. P. regularis has ancestral‐type feeding bipinnaria and brachiolaria larvae and the organization of the nervous system, in association with feeding structures, paralleled the bilateral larval body plan. P. calcar and P. exigua have non‐feeding planktonic and benthic brachiolariae, respectively, and there was no trace of the neuronal architecture involved with feeding. The nervous system in the attachment stage brachiolaria was similar in all three species and neuronal organization reflected larval symmetry. Delayed expression of peptidergic lineages to the brachiolaria stage in the lecithotrophs indicates heterochronic change in the timing of neurogenesis or deletion of the ancestral early neurogenic program. The bipinnarial program is suggested to be a developmental module autonomous from the brachiolar one. With a divergence time of less than 10 Ma, the evolution of development in Patiriella has resulted in extensive reduction in the complexity of the larval nervous system in parallel with simplification in larval form. There is, however, strong conservation in the morphology and neuronal architecture of structures involved with settlement.

Roles of retinoic acid and Tbx1/10 in pharyngeal segmentation: amphioxus and the ancestral chordate condition

BackgroundAlthough chordates descend from a segmented ancestor, the evolution of head segmentation has been very controversial for over 150 years. Chordates generally possess a segmented pharynx, but even though anatomical evidence and gene expression analyses suggest homologies between the pharyngeal apparatus of invertebrate chordates, such as the cephalochordate amphioxus, and vertebrates, these homologies remain contested. We, therefore, decided to study the evolution of the chordate head by examining the molecular mechanisms underlying pharyngeal morphogenesis in amphioxus, an animal lacking definitive neural crest.ResultsFocusing on the role of retinoic acid (RA) in post-gastrulation pharyngeal morphogenesis, we found that during gastrulation, RA signaling in the endoderm is required for defining pharyngeal and non-pharyngeal domains and that this process involves active degradation of RA anteriorly in the embryo. Subsequent extension of the pharyngeal territory depends on the creation of a low RA environment and is coupled to body elongation. RA further functions in pharyngeal segmentation in a regulatory network involving the mutual inhibition of RA- and Tbx1/10-dependent signaling.ConclusionsThese results indicate that the involvement of RA signaling and its interactions with Tbx1/10 in head segmentation preceded the evolution of neural crest and were thus likely present in the ancestral chordate. Furthermore, developmental comparisons between different deuterostome models suggest that the genetic mechanisms for pharyngeal segmentation are evolutionary ancient and very likely predate the origin of chordates.

Carbonic anhydrase inhibition blocks skeletogenesis and echinochrome production in Paracentrotus lividus and Heliocidaris tuberculata embryos and larvae.

Carbonic anhydrases (CAs) are a family of widely distributed metalloenzymes, involved in diverse physiological processes. These enzymes catalyse the reversible conversion of carbon dioxide to protons and bicarbonate. At least 19 genes encoding for CAs have been identified in the sea urchin genome, with one of these localized to the skeletogenic mesoderm (primary mesenchyme cells, PMCs). We investigated the effects of a specific inhibitor of CA, acetazolamide (AZ), on development of two sea urchin species with contrasting investment in skeleton production, Paracentrotus lividus and Heliocidaris tuberculata, to determine the role of CA on PMC differentiation, skeletogenesis and on non‐skeletogenic mesodermal (NSM) cells. Embryos were cultured in the presence of AZ from the blastula stage prior to skeleton formation and development to the larval stage was monitored. At the dose of 8 mmol/L AZ, 98% and 90% of P. lividus and H. tuberculata embryos lacked skeleton, respectively. Nevertheless, an almost normal PMC differentiation was indicated by the expression of msp130, a PMC‐specific marker. Strikingly, the AZ‐treated embryos also lacked the echinochrome pigment produced by the pigment cells, a subpopulation of NSM cells with immune activities within the larva. Conversely, all ectoderm and endoderm derivatives and other subpopulations of mesoderm developed normally. The inhibitory effects of AZ were completely reversed after removal of the inhibitor from the medium. Our data, together with new information concerning the involvement of CA on skeleton formation, provide evidence for the first time of a possible role of the CAs in larval immune pigment cells.

Tail regression induced by elevated retinoic acid signaling in amphioxus larvae occurs by tissue remodeling, not cell death

The vitamin A derived morphogen retinoic acid (RA) is known to function in the regulation of tissue proliferation and differentiation. Here, we show that exogenous RA applied to late larvae of the invertebrate chordate amphioxus can reverse some differentiated states. Although treatment with the RA antagonist BMS009 has no obvious effect on late larvae of amphioxus, administration of excess RA alters the morphology of the posterior end of the body. The anus closes over, and gut contents accumulate in the hindgut. In addition, the larval tail fin regresses, although little apoptosis takes place. This fin normally consists of columnar epidermal cells, each characterized by a ciliary rootlet running all the way from an apical centriole to the base of the cell and likely contributing substantial cytoskeletal support. After a few days of RA treatment, the rootlet becomes disrupted, and the cell shape changes from columnar to cuboidal. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) shows fragments of the rootlet in the basal cytoplasm of the cuboidal cell. A major component of the ciliary rootlet in amphioxus is the protein Rootletin, which is encoded by a single AmphiRootletin gene. This gene is highly expressed in the tail epithelial cells of control larvae, but becomes downregulated after about a day of RA treatment, and the breakup of the ciliary rootlet soon follows. The effect of excess RA on these epidermal cells of the larval tail in amphioxus is unlike posterior regression in developing zebrafish, where elevated RA signaling alters connective tissues of mesodermal origin. In contrast, however, the RA‐induced closure of the amphioxus anus has parallels in the RA‐induced caudal regression syndrome of mammals.

Transcriptomic analysis of Nodal- and BMP-associated genes during juvenile development of the sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma

Understanding the unusual radial body plan of echinoderms and its relationship to the bilateral plan of other deuterostomes remains a challenge. The molecular processes of embryonic and early larval development in sea urchins are well characterised, but those giving rise to the adult and its radial body remain poorly studied. We used the developmental transcriptome generated for Heliocidaris erythrogramma, a species that forms the juvenile soon after gastrulation, to investigate changes in gene expression underlying radial body development. As coelomogenesis is key to the development of pentamery and juvenile formation on the left side of the larva, we focussed on genes associated with the nodal and BMP2/4 network that pattern this asymmetry. We identified 46 genes associated with this Nodal and BMP2/4 signalling network, and determined their expression profiles from the gastrula, through to rudiment development, metamorphosis and the fully formed juvenile. Genes associated with Nodal signalling shared similar expression profiles, indicating that they may have a regulatory relationship in patterning morphogenesis of the juvenile sea urchin. Similarly, many genes associated with BMP2/4 signalling had similar expression profiles through juvenile development. Further examination of the roles of Nodal- and BMP2/4-associated genes is required to determine function and whether the gene expression profiles seen in H. erythrogramma are due to ongoing activity of gene networks established during early development, or to redeployment of regulatory cassettes to pattern the adult radial body plan.