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FGF signaling repertoire of the indirect developing hemichordate Ptychodera flava

Tzu-Pei Fan1, Yi-Hsien Su2

  • 1Molecular and Biological Agricultural Sciences Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan; Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Biotechnology, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan.

Marine Genomics
|August 2, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Researchers identified five Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) and three FGF receptors (FGFRs) in hemichordates, revealing insights into the evolution of FGF signaling in deuterostomes. This study sheds light on gene duplication events and provides a foundation for future functional research.

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary developmental biology
  • Genomics
  • Molecular evolution

Background:

  • Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) and their receptors (FGFRs) are crucial signaling molecules in development across vertebrates and invertebrates.
  • The evolution of FGF signaling repertoires in deuterostomes is not fully understood, with differing gene numbers in chordates, tunicates, amphioxus, and sea urchins.
  • Hemichordates, as close relatives to chordates, offer a unique perspective for investigating the evolutionary history of FGF signaling.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To characterize the FGF and FGFR gene families in hemichordates, specifically the indirect-developing acorn worm Ptychodera flava.
  • To elucidate the evolutionary history of FGF signaling components within deuterostomes.
  • To provide a foundation for future functional studies of FGF signaling in hemichordates.

Main Methods:

  • Identification and characterization of FGF and FGFR genes from Ptychodera flava.
  • Phylogenetic analyses to determine evolutionary relationships of identified genes.
  • Analysis of sequence similarity and protein domain organization.
  • Expression pattern analysis of FGF and FGFR genes during P. flava embryogenesis.

Main Results:

  • Five FGFs and three FGFRs were identified in Ptychodera flava.
  • Phylogenetic analyses indicated the presence of a conserved FGF8/17/18 subfamily and novel hemichordate-specific FGFs.
  • FGFRs in hemichordates and sea urchins appear to have arisen from independent lineage-specific duplications.
  • Expression of acorn worm fgf and fgfr genes was observed during embryogenesis.

Conclusions:

  • Hemichordates possess a distinct FGF signaling repertoire with both conserved and lineage-specific components.
  • The study provides evidence for independent FGFR duplications in hemichordate and echinoderm lineages.
  • These findings contribute to understanding the evolutionary trajectory of FGF signaling in deuterostome evolution.
Keywords:
AmbulacrariaFGFHemichordatePtychodera flava

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