TY - JOUR

T1 - Gotta Go Slow: Two Evolutionarily Distinct Annelids Retain a Common Hedgehog Pathway Composition, Outlining Its Pan-Bilaterian Core

AU - Платова, Софья Евгеньевна

AU - Полюшкевич, Людмила Олеговна

AU - Кулакова, Милана Анатольевна

AU - Нестеренко, Максим

AU - Старунов, Виктор Вячеславович

AU - Новикова, Елена Львовна

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.

PY - 2022/11/18

Y1 - 2022/11/18

N2 - Hedgehog signaling is one of the key regulators of morphogenesis, cell differentiation, and regeneration. While the Hh pathway is present in all bilaterians, it has mainly been studied in model animals such as Drosophila and vertebrates. Despite the conservatism of its core components, mechanisms of signal transduction and additional components vary in Ecdysozoa and Deuterostomia. Vertebrates have multiple copies of the pathway members, which complicates signaling implementation, whereas model ecdysozoans appear to have lost some components due to fast evolution rates. To shed light on the ancestral state of Hh signaling, models from the third clade, Spiralia, are needed. In our research, we analyzed the transcriptomes of two spiralian animals, errantial annelid Platynereis dumerilii (Nereididae) and sedentarian annelid Pygospio elegans (Spionidae). We found that both annelids express almost all Hh pathway components present in Drosophila and mouse. We performed a phylogenetic analysis of the core pathway components and built multiple sequence alignments of the additional key members. Our results imply that the Hh pathway compositions of both annelids share more similarities with vertebrates than with the fruit fly. Possessing an almost complete set of single-copy Hh pathway members, lophotrochozoan signaling composition may reflect the ancestral features of all three bilaterian branches.

AB - Hedgehog signaling is one of the key regulators of morphogenesis, cell differentiation, and regeneration. While the Hh pathway is present in all bilaterians, it has mainly been studied in model animals such as Drosophila and vertebrates. Despite the conservatism of its core components, mechanisms of signal transduction and additional components vary in Ecdysozoa and Deuterostomia. Vertebrates have multiple copies of the pathway members, which complicates signaling implementation, whereas model ecdysozoans appear to have lost some components due to fast evolution rates. To shed light on the ancestral state of Hh signaling, models from the third clade, Spiralia, are needed. In our research, we analyzed the transcriptomes of two spiralian animals, errantial annelid Platynereis dumerilii (Nereididae) and sedentarian annelid Pygospio elegans (Spionidae). We found that both annelids express almost all Hh pathway components present in Drosophila and mouse. We performed a phylogenetic analysis of the core pathway components and built multiple sequence alignments of the additional key members. Our results imply that the Hh pathway compositions of both annelids share more similarities with vertebrates than with the fruit fly. Possessing an almost complete set of single-copy Hh pathway members, lophotrochozoan signaling composition may reflect the ancestral features of all three bilaterian branches.

KW - Platynereis dumerilii

KW - Pygopsio elegans

KW - Spiralia

KW - annelids

KW - hedgehog signaling

KW - molecular evolution

KW - pathway

KW - transcriptome analysis

KW - Hedgehog Proteins/genetics

KW - Phylogeny

KW - Animals

KW - Vertebrates/metabolism

KW - Annelida/genetics

KW - Mice

KW - Drosophila/metabolism

KW - Polychaeta/genetics

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85142820415&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/64a443ea-9180-3524-b474-89addf2bad76/

U2 - 10.3390/ijms232214312

DO - 10.3390/ijms232214312

M3 - Article

C2 - 36430788

VL - 23

JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences

JF - International Journal of Molecular Sciences

SN - 1422-0067

IS - 22

M1 - 14312

ER -