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Nitric Oxide regulates mouth development in amphioxus
Giovanni Annona1, Filomena Caccavale1, Juan Pascual-Anaya2
1Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn di Napoli, Villa Comunale 1, 80121, Napoli, Italy.
Scientific Reports
|August 18, 2017
Summary
Nitric oxide (NO) is crucial for mouth and gill slit formation in amphioxus, a non-vertebrate chordate. This finding reveals NO
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary developmental biology
- Chordate evolution
- Molecular signaling
Background:
- Mouth formation in animals, specifically protostomy and deuterostomy, is a key area of evolutionary research.
- Nitric oxide (NO) has been identified as a regulator in vertebrate development.
- The role of NO in non-vertebrate chordate development remains largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of nitric oxide (NO) in the mouth formation of cephalochordates.
- To test the hypothesis that NO is a conserved regulator of pharyngeal morphogenesis in chordates.
Main Methods:
- Studied the development of the amphioxus (Branchiostoma lanceolatum).
- Experimentally decreased nitric oxide (NO) levels during early development.
- Observed the effects on mouth and gill slit formation.
Main Results:
- Nitric oxide (NO) was found to be essential for cephalochordate mouth and gill slit formation.
- Experimental reduction of NO impaired pharyngeal morphogenesis in amphioxus.
- This indicates a conserved role for NO in chordate mouth development.
Conclusions:
- Nitric oxide (NO) plays a conserved, essential role in chordate mouth formation, dating back to their common ancestor.
- This study provides the first evidence of NO's physiological role in non-vertebrate chordates.
- Findings open new evolutionary perspectives on NO homeostasis and its role in biological innovation.
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