Linked Life Data

9811975

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/9811975

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
10
pubmed:dateCreated
1999-2-1
pubmed:abstractText
Homologs of the Drosophila snail gene have been characterized in several vertebrates. In addition to being expressed in mesoderm during gastrulation, vertebrate snail genes are also expressed in presumptive neural crest and/or its derivatives. Given that neural crest is unique to vertebrates and is considered to be of fundamental importance in their evolution, we have cloned and characterized the expression of a snail gene from amphioxus, a cephalochordate widely accepted as the sister group of the vertebrates. We show that, at the amino acid sequence level, the amphioxus snail gene is a clear phylogenetic outgroup to all the characterized vertebrate snail genes. During embryogenesis snail expression initially becomes restricted to the paraxial or presomitic mesoderm of amphioxus. Later, snail is expressed at high levels in the lateral neural plate, where it persists during neurulation. Our results indicate that an ancestral function of snail genes in the lineage leading to vertebrates is to define the paraxial mesoderm. Furthermore, our results indicate that a cell population homologous to the vertebrate neural crest may be present in amphioxus, thus providing an important link in the evolution of this key vertebrate tissue.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Dec
pubmed:issn
0949-944X
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
208
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
569-77
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1998
pubmed:articleTitle
An amphioxus snail gene: expression in paraxial mesoderm and neural plate suggests a conserved role in patterning the chordate embryo.
pubmed:affiliation
Biology Department, Kalamazoo College, 1200 Academy St. Kalamazoo, MI 49006, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Comparative Study