Developmental expression of transcription factor genes in a demosponge: insights into the origin of metazoan multicellularity
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Demosponges are considered part of the most basal evolutionary lineage in the animal kingdom. Although the sponge body plan fundamentally differs from that of other metazoans, their development includes many of the hallmarks of bilaterian and eumetazoan embryogenesis, namely fertilization followed by a period of cell division yielding distinct cell populations, which through a gastrulation-like process become allocated into different cell layers and patterned within these layers. These observations suggest that the last common ancestor (LCA) to all living animals was developmentally more sophisticated than is widely appreciated and used asymmetric cell division and morphogen gradients to establish localized populations of specified cells within the embryo. Here we demonstrate that members of a range of transcription factor gene classes, many of which appear to be metazoan-specific, are expressed during the development of the demosponge Reniera, including ANTP, Pax, POU, LIM-HD, Sox, nuclear receptor, Fox (forkhead), T-box, Mef2, and Ets genes. Phylogenetic analysis of these genes suggests that not only the origin but the diversification of some of the major developmental metazoan transcription factor classes took place before sponges diverged from the rest of the Metazoa. Their expression during demosponge development suggests that, as in today's sophisticated metazoans, these genes may have functioned in the regulatory network of the metazoan LCA to control cell specification and regionalized gene expression during embryogenesis.
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The origination of Hox genes and expansion of a range of developmental transcription factor gene families enabled further elaboration of ancestral gene regulatory networks.
“Along with the diversification signalling pathways in eumetazoans was the origination of Hox genes [24] and expansion of a range of developmental transcription factor gene families [23], [28, unpublished], which enabled further elaboration of ancestral gene regulatory networks.”
From Wnt and TGF-β Expression in the Sponge Amphimedon queenslandica and the Origin of Metazoan Embryonic Patterning (2007) · cites this paper as [23]
The developmental expression of these signalling systems, along with that of many metazoan-specific transcription factor families, indicates that the last common ancestor to all living metazoans already possessed the regulatory capacity to form complex body plans.
“The developmental expression of these signalling systems, along with that of many metazoan-specific transcription factor families [23], indicates that the last common ancestor to all living metazoans already possessed the regulatory capacity to form complex body plans, using the same molecular components as animals living over 550 million years later [49].”
From Wnt and TGF-β Expression in the Sponge Amphimedon queenslandica and the Origin of Metazoan Embryonic Patterning (2007) · cites this paper as [23]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Larroux, C., Fahey, B., Liubicich, D., Hinman, V. F., Gauthier, M., Gongora, M., Green, K., Wörheide, G., Leys, S. P., & Degnan, B. M.
- Affiliations
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- University of Alberta (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Degnan, Bernard M.
- Venue
- Evolution & Development
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2006-02-23
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 150-173
- ISSN
- 1520-541X (ISSN-L)
- 1525-142X
- OpenAlex
- W2107599800
- Cited by
- 173
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 8.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- figshare.com
- Locations
- Evolution & Development (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- KiltHub Repository
- Funders
- American Association of Endodontists Foundation
- Fulbright Association
- Australian Research Council
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Marine Invertebrate Physiology and Ecology
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biotechnology › Marine Sponges and Natural Products
- Keywords
- Reniera, transcription factors, cell specification, Pax genes, LIM homeobox genes, Sox genes, nuclear receptors, Fox genes, T-box genes, MEF2, gene phylogeny, morphogen gradients, asymmetric cell division
- MeSH terms
- Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Binding Sites, DNA, Biological Evolution, Larva, Ligands, Molecular Sequence Data, Porifera, Transcription Factors, Protein Structure, Tertiary, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
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