PUBLICATION

Evolution of vertebrate gill covers via shifts in an ancient Pou3f3 enhancer

Authors
Barske, L., Fabian, P., Hirschberger, C., Jandzik, D., Square, T., Xu, P., Nelson, N., Yu, H.V., Medeiros, D.M., Gillis, J.A., Crump, J.G.
ID
ZDB-PUB-201002-113
Date
2020
Source
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America   117(40): 24876-24884 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Barske, Lindsey, Medeiros, Daniel, Xu, Pengfei
Keywords
Pou3f3, enhancer deletion, gill cover, neural crest, vertebrate evolution
Datasets
GEO:GSE140636
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Enhancer Elements, Genetic*
  • Evolution, Molecular*
  • Fishes/classification
  • Fishes/genetics
  • Fishes/growth & development
  • Gills/growth & development*
  • Mutation
  • POU Domain Factors/genetics*
  • Phylogeny
  • Sharks/classification
  • Sharks/genetics
  • Sharks/growth & development
  • Vertebrates/classification
  • Vertebrates/genetics*
  • Vertebrates/growth & development
PubMed
32958671 Full text @ Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
Abstract
Whereas the gill chambers of jawless vertebrates open directly into the environment, jawed vertebrates evolved skeletal appendages that drive oxygenated water unidirectionally over the gills. A major anatomical difference between the two jawed vertebrate lineages is the presence of a single large gill cover in bony fishes versus separate covers for each gill chamber in cartilaginous fishes. Here, we find that these divergent patterns correlate with the pharyngeal arch expression of Pou3f3 orthologs. We identify a deeply conserved Pou3f3 arch enhancer present in humans through sharks but undetectable in jawless fish. Minor differences between the bony and cartilaginous fish enhancers account for their restricted versus pan-arch expression patterns. In zebrafish, mutation of Pou3f3 or the conserved enhancer disrupts gill cover formation, whereas ectopic pan-arch Pou3f3b expression generates ectopic skeletal elements resembling the multimeric covers of cartilaginous fishes. Emergence of this Pou3f3 arch enhancer >430 Mya and subsequent modifications may thus have contributed to the acquisition and diversification of gill covers and respiratory strategies during gnathostome evolution.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping