Phylogenetic analysis and embryonic expression of panarthropod Dmrt genes
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RESEARCH
Open Access
Phylogenetic analysis and embryonic expression of panarthropod Dmrt genes Virginia Panara1,2, Graham E. Budd1 and Ralf Janssen1*
Abstract Background: One set of the developmentally important Doublesex and Male-abnormal-3 Related Transcription factors (Dmrt) is subject of intense research, because of their role in sex-determination and sexual differentiation. This likely non-monophyletic group of Dmrt genes is represented by the Drosophila melanogaster gene Doublesex (Dsx), the Caenorhabditis elegans Male-abnormal-3 (Mab-3) gene, and vertebrate Dmrt1 genes. However, other members of the Dmrt family are much less well studied, and in arthropods, including the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, data on these genes are virtually absent with respect to their embryonic expression and function. Results: Here we investigate the complete set of Dmrt genes in members of all main groups of Arthropoda and a member of Onychophora, extending our data to Panarthropoda as a whole. We confirm the presence of at least four families of Dmrt genes (including Dsx-like genes) in Panarthropoda and study their expression profiles during embryogenesis. Our work shows that the expression patterns of Dmrt11E, Dmrt93B, and Dmrt99B orthologs are highly conserved among panarthropods. Embryonic expression of Dsx-like genes, however, is more derived, likely as a result of neo-functionalization after duplication. Conclusions: Our data suggest deep homology of most of the panarthropod Dmrt genes with respect to their function that likely dates back to their last common ancestor. The function of Dsx and Dsx-like genes which are critical for sexual differentiation in animals, however, appears to be much less conserved. Keywords: Doublesex, Sexual differentiation, DMRT, Arthropoda, Panarthropoda, Onychophora, Tribolium, Parasteatoda, Glomeris, Euperipatoides, Neo-functionalization
Background Dmrt (Doublesex and Male-abnormal-3 Related Transcription factor) genes represent a group of transcription factors that are characterized by the presence of an unusual zinc-finger motif called the DM domain (Doublesex/Male-abnormal-3 domain) ([1] Erdman and Burtis 1993). The first Dmrt gene to be proposed and identified was Drosophila melanogaster Doublesex (Dsx), a gene that is involved in sex determination in the fly ([2] Hildreth 1965, [3] Burtis and Baker 1989), but Dmrt genes represent an ancestral class of developmental genes that must have evolved before the appearance of bilaterian animals: they are present in cnidarians, placozoans and ctenophores ([4] Miller et al. 2003, [5] Wexler et al. 2014, [6] Chen et al. 2016). * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Department of Earth Sciences, Palaeobiology, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, Uppsala, Sweden Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
Dmrt genes have been intensively investigated because of their various functions in sex determination and differentiation, and have been identified in various animal groups such as vertebrates (e.g. [7] M
