Evolutionary differentiation of duplicated hoxb5 paralogs orchestrates calcium signaling and contractility

hox genes are evolutionarily conserved transcription factors essential for anterior-posterior body patterning, yet their specific contributions to cardiac morphogenesis and calcium signaling remain elusive. Using zebrafish as a model for vertebrate cardiogenesis, we dissected the distinct roles of hoxb5a and hoxb5b-two paralogues retained after the teleost-specific genome duplication. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of hoxb5a or hoxb5b revealed divergent functions: loss of hoxb5a caused pericardial edema, abnormal cardiac looping, and defective ventricular morphology, whereas hoxb5b mutants developed normally and survived to adulthood. Comprehensive functional analyses combining high-speed videography, calcium optical imaging, and electrocardiography demonstrated that hoxb5a deficiency leads to impaired contractility and conduction, associated with disrupted calcium transients. Transcriptomic profiling further revealed that hoxb5a and hoxb5b exert antagonistic regulation of genes controlling excitation-contraction coupling and calcium handling in cardiomyocytes. These findings demonstrate a functional divergence between hoxb5a and hoxb5b in the genetic regulation of teleost cardiac development. hoxb5a plays a dominant role in coordinating early cardiac morphogenesis and calcium homeostasis, whereas hoxb5b acts as an auxiliary regulator. This antagonistic interaction highlights how gene duplication and divergence refine the transcriptional networks that govern cardiac patterning. Our study uncovers an unrecognized link between hox gene activity and calcium-dependent signaling, providing new mechanistic insights into the evolutionary control of heart development and potential pathways contributing to congenital heart disease.