RRC ID 12070
Author Murakami Y, Pasqualetti M, Takio Y, Hirano S, Rijli FM, Kuratani S.
Title Segmental development of reticulospinal and branchiomotor neurons in lamprey: insights into the evolution of the vertebrate hindbrain.
Journal Development
Abstract During development, the vertebrate hindbrain is subdivided along its anteroposterior axis into a series of segmental bulges called rhombomeres. These segments in turn generate a repeated pattern of rhombomere-specific neurons, including reticular and branchiomotor neurons. In amphioxus (Cephalochordata), the sister group of the vertebrates, a bona fide segmented hindbrain is lacking, although the embryonic brain vesicle shows molecular anteroposterior regionalization. Therefore, evaluation of the segmental patterning of the central nervous system of agnathan embryos is relevant to our understanding of the origin of the developmental plan of the vertebrate hindbrain. To investigate the neuronal organization of the hindbrain of the Japanese lamprey, Lethenteron japonicum, we retrogradely labeled the reticulospinal and branchial motoneurons. By combining this analysis with a study of the expression patterns of genes identifying specific rhombomeric territories such as LjKrox20, LjPax6, LjEphC and LjHox3, we found that the reticular neurons in the lamprey hindbrain, including isthmic, bulbar and Mauthner cells, develop in conserved rhombomere-specific positions, similar to those in the zebrafish. By contrast, lamprey trigeminal and facial motor nuclei are not in register with rhombomere boundaries, unlike those of gnathostomes. The trigeminal-facial boundary corresponds to the rostral border of LjHox3 expression in the middle of rhombomere 4. Exogenous application of retinoic acid (RA) induced a rostral shift of both the LjHox3 expression domain and branchiomotor nuclei with no obvious repatterning of rhombomeric segmentation and reticular neurons. Therefore, whereas subtype variations of motoneuron identity along the anteroposterior axis may rely on Hox-dependent positional values, as in gnathostomes, such variations in the lamprey are not constrained by hindbrain segmentation. We hypothesize that the registering of hindbrain segmentation and neuronal patterning may have been acquired through successive and independent stepwise patterning changes during evolution.
Volume 131(5)
Pages 983-95
Published 2004-3-1
DOI 10.1242/dev.00986
PII 131/5/983
PMID 14973269
MeSH Animals Base Sequence Biological Evolution Body Patterning / drug effects Body Patterning / genetics DNA, Complementary / genetics Female Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / drug effects Genes, Homeobox Lampreys / embryology* Lampreys / genetics* Male Models, Biological Motor Neurons / cytology Motor Neurons / drug effects Rhombencephalon / drug effects Rhombencephalon / embryology* Tretinoin / pharmacology
IF 5.611
Times Cited 78
WOS Category DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
Resource
Zebrafish