Genetics and Genomics Commons^™

Systematic Comparison Of Sea Urchin And Sea Star Developmental Gene Regulatory Networks Explains How Novelty Is Incorporated In Early Development., Gregory A Cary, Brenna S Mccauley, Olga Zueva, Joseph Pattinato, William J R Longabaugh, Veronica F Hinman

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

The extensive array of morphological diversity among animal taxa represents the product of millions of years of evolution. Morphology is the output of development, therefore phenotypic evolution arises from changes to the topology of the gene regulatory networks (GRNs) that control the highly coordinated process of embryogenesis. A particular challenge in understanding the origins of animal diversity lies in determining how GRNs incorporate novelty while preserving the overall stability of the network, and hence, embryonic viability. Here we assemble a comprehensive GRN for endomesoderm specification in the sea star from zygote through gastrulation that corresponds to the GRN for sea …