Annelid Distal-less/Dlx duplications reveal varied post-duplication fates
Date
16/08/2011Keywords
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Abstract
Background: Dlx (Distal-less) genes have various developmental roles and are widespread throughout the animal kingdom, usually occurring as single copy genes in non-chordates and as multiple copies in most chordate genomes. While the genomic arrangement and function of these genes is well known in vertebrates and arthropods, information about Dlx genes in other organisms is scarce. We investigate the presence of Dlx genes in several annelid species and examine Dlx gene expression in the polychaete Pomatoceros lamarckii. Results: Two Dlx genes are present in P. lamarckii, Capitella teleta and Helobdella robusta. The C. teleta Dlx genes are closely linked in an inverted tail-to-tail orientation, reminiscent of the arrangement of vertebrate Dlx pairs, and gene conversion appears to have had a role in their evolution. The H. robusta Dlx genes, however, are not on the same genomic scaffold and display divergent sequences, while, if the P. lamarckii genes are linked in a tail-to-tail orientation they are a minimum of 41 kilobases apart and show no sign of gene conversion. No expression in P. lamarckii appendage development has been observed, which conflicts with the supposed conserved role of these genes in animal appendage development. These Dlx duplications do not appear to be annelid-wide, as the polychaete Platynereis dumerilii likely possesses only one Dlx gene. Conclusions: On the basis of the currently accepted annelid phylogeny, we hypothesise that one Dlx duplication occurred in the annelid lineage after the divergence of P. dumerilii from the other lineages and these duplicates then had varied evolutionary fates in different species. We also propose that the ancestral role of Dlx genes is not related to appendage development.
Citation
McDougall , C , Korchagina , N , Tobin , J & Ferrier , D E K 2011 , ' Annelid Distal-less/Dlx duplications reveal varied post-duplication fates ' , BMC Evolutionary Biology , vol. 11 , pp. 241 . https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-11-241
Publication
BMC Evolutionary Biology
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1471-2148Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2011 McDougall et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Additional files can be viewed at http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/11/241/additional/ "Work in the authors’ laboratory is supported by the BBSRC and the School of Biology, University of St Andrews"Collections
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