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Assessing Signaling Properties of Ectodermal Epithelia During Craniofacial Development
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Recurrent DCC gene losses during bird evolution.

François Friocourt1, Anne-Gaelle Lafont2, Clémence Kress3

  • 1Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, 17 Rue Moreau, 75012 Paris, France.

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|February 28, 2017
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The Deleted in Colorectal Carcinoma (DCC) gene, crucial for axon guidance, is surprisingly lost in some bird groups. Despite this, early brain development and commissural tract patterns remain similar across all birds, indicating developmental plasticity.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genomics

Background:

  • Axon guidance is critical for nervous system development.
  • The Netrin-1/DCC signaling pathway is a conserved mechanism for midline axon attraction.
  • Understanding the evolution of this pathway in vertebrates provides insights into neural development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the evolutionary conservation and functional impact of the Netrin-1/DCC ligand/receptor system in avian species.
  • To explore the plasticity of axon guidance mechanisms in birds.
  • To analyze gene loss events and their correlation with chromosomal rearrangements.

Main Methods:

  • Phylogenetic and synteny analyses of DCC and netrin genes across avian genomes.
  • Whole-mount immunostaining to visualize DCC protein expression.
  • 3D imaging (3Disco clearing) to examine neural tract development.

Main Results:

  • The DCC gene is conserved in most bird species but has been independently lost in Passeriformes and Galliformes, possibly due to Z chromosome rearrangements.
  • DCC protein expression patterns are conserved in birds possessing the gene.
  • Commissural tract development is similar across all studied birds, irrespective of DCC gene presence.
  • Netrin-5 is absent in birds, with only 4 of 5 vertebrate netrin genes conserved.

Conclusions:

  • Avian species exhibit remarkable plasticity in commissural axon guidance mechanisms.
  • The loss of DCC does not necessarily disrupt early commissural tract formation in birds.
  • Evolutionary gene loss can occur convergently and may be compensated by alternative developmental pathways.