Conserved regulation of hoxc11 by pitx1 in Anolis lizards. Issue 3 (23rd December 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Park, Sungdae; Infante, Carlos R.; Rivera‐Davila, Laura C.; Menke, Douglas B.
• Is Part Of: Journal of experimental zoology. Volume 322:Issue 3(2014)
• Page Start: 156
• Page End: 165
• Publication Date: 2013-12-23
• Subjects: Developmental biology -- Periodicals; Evolution (Biology) -- Periodicals; Molecular evolution -- Periodicals; Zoology -- Periodicals; Evolution, Molecular -- Periodicals; Developmental Biology -- Periodicals; Zoology -- Periodicals; 591
• DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22554
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1552-5007

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>ABSTRACT</title> <sec id="jezb22554-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <p> <italic>Anolis</italic> lizards are an emerging model system for the study of limb development and evolution, but very little is known concerning the regulatory interactions that control limb patterning differences among <italic>Anolis</italic> species or what regulatory interactions are deeply conserved between <italic>Anolis</italic> and other tetrapod groups. Here we report the establishment of an embryonic limb micromass culture system that enables functional studies of forelimb and hindlimb gene regulatory networks in <italic>Anolis</italic>. Characterization of this culture system demonstrated that embryonic forelimb and hindlimb micromasses from different <italic>Anolis</italic> species are easy to sustain in culture for weeks, and the expression of forelimb and hindlimb‐specific gene expression patterns are maintained for at least 8 days in culture. We tested the ability of this system to explore regulatory linkages between transcription factors and their putative target genes through the ectopic expression of a hindlimb‐specific transcription factor, <italic>pitx1</italic>, in forelimb micromasses. We found that <italic>pitx1</italic> expression in forelimb cells is sufficient to strongly induce the expression of <italic>hoxc11</italic>, a gene that normally exhibits hindlimb‐restricted expression. <italic>J. Exp. Zool. (Mol. Dev. Evol.) 322B: 156–165, 2014</italic>. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.</p> </sec> </abstract>