Evolutionary conservation of a cell fate specification gene: the Hydra achaete-scute homolog has proneural activity in Drosophila
Open accessAbstract
Members of the Achaete-scute family of basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors are involved in cell fate specification in vertebrates and invertebrates. We have isolated and characterized a cnidarian achaete-scute homolog, CnASH, from Hydra vulgaris, a representative of an evolutionarily ancient branch of metazoans. There is a single achaete-scute gene in Hydra, and the bHLH domain of the predicted gene product shares a high degree of amino acid sequence similarity with those of vertebrate and Drosophila Achaete-scute proteins. In Hydra, CnASH is expressed in a subset of the interstitial cells as well as differentiation intermediates of the nematocyte pathways. In vitro translated CnASH protein can form heterodimers with the Drosophila bHLH protein Daughterless, and these dimers bind to consensus Achaete-scute DNA binding sites in a sequence-specific manner. Ectopic expression of CnASH in wild-type late third instar Drosophila larvae and early pupae leads to the formation of ectopic sensory organs, mimicking the effect of ectopic expression of the endogenous achaete-scute genes. Expression of CnASH in flies that are achaete and scute double mutants gives partial rescue of the mutant phenotype, comparable to the degree of rescue obtained by ectopic expression of the Drosophila genes. These results indicate that the achaete-scute type of bHLH genes for cell fate specification, as well as their mode of action, arose early and have been conserved during metazoan evolution.
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These results suggest that the biochemical functions of CnASH have been conserved despite the divergence of cnidarians and arthropods before the Cambrian explosion.
“These results suggest that although cnidarians and arthropods diverged prior to the Cambrian explosion (Erwin and Davidson, 2002), the biochemical functions of the CnASH protein have been conserved”
From Evolutionary aspects of developmentally regulated helix-loop-helix transcription factors in striated muscle of jellyfish (2003) · cites this paper as Grens et al., 1995
Expression of the CnASH gene product partially rescues differentiation of Drosophila achaete and scute double mutants.
“Furthermore, the differentiation of Drosophila achaete and scute double mutants could be partially rescued by expression of the CnASH gene product”
From Evolutionary aspects of developmentally regulated helix-loop-helix transcription factors in striated muscle of jellyfish (2003) · cites this paper as Grens et al., 1995
Podocoryne Ash expression in early undifferentiated bud cells and later in differentiating nematoblasts matches Hydra CnASH expression in interstitial cells and the nematocyte pathway.
“Although Podocoryne has no interstitial cells comparable to Hydra (Braverman, 1974), the expression pattern in undifferentiated cells of the early bud stages and later in differentiating nematoblasts correlates well with the expression of the Hydra CnASH gene, which is active in a subset of the interstitial cells and in cells of the nematocyte differentiation pathway (Grens et al., 1995).”
From Evolutionary aspects of developmentally regulated helix-loop-helix transcription factors in striated muscle of jellyfish (2003) · cites this paper as Grens et al., 1995
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References 65 · Cited by 143
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Harland, R. M. (1991). In situ hybridization: An improved whole-mount method for Xenopus embryos. In Methods in Cell Biology Vol. 36 (ed. B. K. Kay and H. J. Peng), pp. 685-695. London: Academic Press.
- Authors
- Grens, A., Mason, E., Marsh, J. L., & Bode, H. R.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Venue
- Development
- Publisher
- The Company of Biologists
- Published
- 1995-12-01
- Volume
- 121
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 4027-4035
- ISSN
- 0950-1991 (ISSN-L)
- 1477-9129
- OpenAlex
- W1821313556
- Cited by
- 143
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 2.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- escholarship.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Development (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r01hd008086-22)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD27137, HD-08086)
- 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 › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
- Keywords
- Hydra vulgaris, bHLH transcription factors, proneural genes, cell fate specification, evolutionary conservation, interstitial cells, cnidarian development
- MeSH terms
- Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Base Sequence, Cell Differentiation, DNA-Binding Proteins, Drosophila, Biological Evolution, Hydra, Molecular Sequence Data, Transcription Factors, Gene Expression, Conserved Sequence, Sequence Homology, Amino Acid, Drosophila Proteins, Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins
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