Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/17190
Title: A relative shift in cloacal location repositions external genitalia in amniote evolution
Contributor(s): Tschopp, Patrick (author); Sherratt, Emma (author); Sanger, Thomas J (author); Groner, Anna C (author); Aspiras, Ariel C (author); Hu, Jimmy K (author); Pourquie, Olivier (author); Gros, Jerome (author); Tabin, Clifford J (author)
Publication Date: 2014
Open Access: Yes
DOI: 10.1038/nature13819Open Access Link
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/17190
Open Access Link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4294627Open Access Link
Abstract: The move of vertebrates to a terrestrial lifestyle required major adaptations in their locomotory apparatus and reproductive organs. While the fin-to-limb transition has received considerable attention, little is known about the developmental and evolutionary origins of external genitalia. Similarities in gene expression have been interpreted as a potential evolutionary link between the limb and genitals; however,no underlying developmental mechanism has been identified. We re-examined this question using micro-computed tomography, lineage tracing in three amniote clades, and RNA-sequencing-based transcriptional profiling. Here we show that the developmental origin of external genitalia has shifted through evolution, and in some taxa limbs and genitals share a common primordium. In squamates, the genitalia develop directly from the budding hind limbs, or the remnants thereof, whereas in mice the genital tubercle originates from the ventral and tail bud mesenchyme. The recruitment of different cell populations for genital outgrowth follows a change in the relative position of the cloaca, the genitalia organizing centre. Ectopic grafting of the cloaca demonstrates the conserved ability of different mesenchymal cells to respond to these genitalia-inducing signals.Our results support a limb-like developmental origin of external genitalia as the ancestral condition. Moreover, they suggest that a change in the relative position of the cloacal signalling centre during evolution has led to an altered developmental route for external genitalia in mammals, while preserving parts of the ancestral limb molecular circuitry owing to a common evolutionary origin.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: Nature, 516(7531), p. 391-394
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Place of Publication: United Kingdom
ISSN: 1476-4687
0028-0836
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 060305 Evolution of Developmental Systems
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 310404 Evolution of developmental systems
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 970106 Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 280102 Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article

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