Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Animal Sciences
Early Cranial Patterning In The Direct-Developing Frog Eleutherodactylus Coqui Revealed Through Gene Expression, Ryan Kerney, Joshua Gross, James Hanken
Early Cranial Patterning In The Direct-Developing Frog Eleutherodactylus Coqui Revealed Through Gene Expression, Ryan Kerney, Joshua Gross, James Hanken
Ryan Kerney
Genetic and developmental alterations associated with the evolution of amphibian direct development remain largely unexplored. Specifically, little is known of the underlying expression of skeletal regulatory genes, which may reveal early modifications to cranial ontogeny in direct-developing species. We describe expression patterns of three key skeletal regulators (runx2, sox9, and bmp4) along with the cartilage-dominant collagen 2a1 gene (col2a1) during cranial development in the direct- developing anuran, Eleutherodactylus coqui. Expression patterns of these regulators reveal transient skeletogenic anlagen that correspond to larval cartilages, but which never fully form in E. coqui. Suprarostral anlagen in the frontonasal processes are detected through …
Regulatory Elements Of Xenopus Col2a1 Drive Cartilaginous Gene Expression In Transgenic Frogs, Ryan Kerney, Brian K. Hall, James Hanken
Regulatory Elements Of Xenopus Col2a1 Drive Cartilaginous Gene Expression In Transgenic Frogs, Ryan Kerney, Brian K. Hall, James Hanken
Ryan Kerney
This study characterizes regulatory elements of collagen 2α1 (col2a1) in Xenopus that enable transgene expression in cartilage-forming chondrocytes. The reporters described in this study drive strong cartilage-specific gene expression, which will be a valuable tool for further investigations of Xenopus skeletal development. While endogenous col2a1 mRNA is expressed in many embryonic tissues, its expression becomes restricted to tadpole and adult chondrocytes. This chondrocyte-specific expression is recapitulated by col2a1 reporter constructs, which were tested through I-SceI meganuclease-mediated transgenesis. These constructs contain a portion of the Xenopus tropicalis col2a1 intron, which aligns to a cartilage-specific intronic enhancer that has been well characterized …