Characterization of an amphioxus paired box gene, AmphiPax2/5/8: developmental expression patterns in optic support cells, nephridium, thyroid-like structures and pharyngeal gill slits, but not in the midbrain-hindbrain boundary region

On the basis of developmental gene expression, the vertebrate central nervous system comprises: a forebrain plus anterior midbrain, a midbrain-hindbrain boundary region (MHB) having organizer properties, and a rhombospinal domain. The vertebrate MHB is characterized by position, by organizer properties and by being the early site of action of Wnt1 and engrailed genes, and of genes of the Pax2/5/8 subfamily. Wada and others (Wada, H., Saiga, H., Satoh, N. and Holland, P. W. H. (1998) Development 125, 1113-1122) suggested that ascidian tunicates have a vertebrate-like MHB on the basis of ascidian Pax258 expression there. In another invertebrate chordate, amphioxus, comparable gene expression evidence for a vertebrate-like MHB is lacking. We, therefore, isolated and characterized AmphiPax2/5/8, the sole member of this subfamily in amphioxus. AmphiPax2/5/8 is initially expressed well back in the rhombospinal domain and not where a MHB would be expected. In contrast, most of the other expression domains of AmphiPax2/5/8 correspond to expression domains of vertebrate Pax2, Pax5 and Pax8 in structures that are probably homologous - support cells of the eye, nephridium, thyroid-like structures and pharyngeal gill slits; although AmphiPax2/5/8 is not transcribed in any structures that could be interpreted as homologues of vertebrate otic placodes or otic vesicles. In sum, the developmental expression of AmphiPax2/5/8 indicates that the amphioxus central nervous system lacks a MHB resembling the vertebrate isthmic region. Additional gene expression data for the developing ascidian and amphioxus nervous systems would help determine whether a MHB is a basal chordate character secondarily lost in amphioxus. The alternative is that the MHB is a vertebrate innovation.     

Characterization of the immune defense related tissues, cells, and genes in amphioxus

Amphioxus is an important animal model for phylogenetic analysis, including comparative immunology. Exploring the immune system in amphioxus contributes to our understanding of the origin and evolution of the vertebrate immune system. We investigated the amphioxus immune system using ultrastructural examination and in situ hybridization. The expression patterns of TLR1 (toll-like receptor 1), C1Q (complement component 1, q subcomponent), ECSIT (evolutionarily conserved signaling intermediate in Toll pathways), SoxC, DDAHa (Dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase a), and NOS (nitric oxide synthase) show that these genes play key roles in amphioxus immunity. Our results suggest that the epidermis and alimentary canal epithelium may play important roles in immune defense, while macrophages located in the coelom and so-called lymph spaces may also be crucial immune cells.     

芳香化酶在文昌鱼神经系统、哈氏窝和性腺特异性定位:原位杂交和免疫细胞化学研究

芳香化酶活性发现在脊椎动物脑、脑垂体和性腺中,但在文昌鱼脑和哈氏窝的组织特异性定位尚无可利用资料。本文用免疫细胞化学和原位杂交技术,首次发现芳香化酶活性组织特异性定位在幼年和性腺发育不同时期雌、雄文昌鱼神经系统(脑和脊髓)、轮器、哈氏窝和性腺中。芳香化酶蛋白和转录物在前脑、中脑、脊髓、轮器和哈氏窝十分丰富,而后脑、早期卵巢和精巢不够丰富;没有芳香化酶表达的部位是哈氏窝另两种细胞(不规则形细胞和带纤毛粘液细胞)以及成熟卵巢和精巢;芳香化酶免疫活性物质分布在胞质,核为阴性。芳香化酶在文昌鱼神经系统、哈氏窝和性腺的分布模式与低等脊椎动物中的分布模式极为类似,尤其是芳香化酶在脑内调节哈氏窝分泌活动的神经内分泌中枢表达,并形成类似脊椎动物的文昌鱼原始的脑-芳香化酶调节系统。这些结果有力地证明,文昌鱼脑和哈氏窝高水平的芳香化酶活性像在其它脊椎动物中一样,对局部介导睾酮芳香化起着关键作用,同时还可能影响脑-芳香化酶系统参与调节哈氏窝的分泌活动[动物学报49(6)：800～806,2003]。     

Three amphioxus Wnt genes (AmphiWnt3, AmphiWnt5, and AmphiWnt6) associated with the tail bud: the evolution of somitogenesis in chordates.

The amphioxus tail bud is similar to the amphibian tail bud in having an epithelial organization without a mesenchymal component. We characterize three amphioxus Wnt genes (AmphiWnt3, AmphiWnt5, and AmphiWnt6) and show that their early expression around the blastopore can subsequently be traced into the tail bud; in vertebrate embryos, there is a similar progression of expression domains for Wnt3, Wnt5, and Wnt6 genes from the blastopore lip (or its equivalent) to the tail bud. In amphioxus, AmphiWnt3, AmphiWnt5, and AmphiWnt6 are each expressed in a specific subregion of the tail bud, tentatively suggesting that a combinatorial code of developmental gene expression may help generate specific tissues during posterior elongation and somitogenesis. In spite of similarities within their tail buds, vertebrate and amphioxus embryos differ markedly in the relation between the tail bud and the nascent somites: vertebrates have a relatively extensive zone of unsegmented mesenchyme (i.e., presomitic mesoderm) intervening between the tail bud and the forming somites, whereas the amphioxus tail bud gives rise to new somites directly. It is likely that presomitic mesoderm is a vertebrate innovation made possible by developmental interconversions between epithelium and mesenchyme that first became prominent at the dawn of vertebrate evolution.     

催乳素及其受体样免疫活性在文昌鱼神经系统、哈氏窝和其它组织的分布

用兔抗人催乳素多克隆抗体和鼠抗人催乳索受体单克隆抗体对文昌鱼神经系统、哈氏窝和其它组织进行免疫组织化学研究。结果显示:催乳素免疫活性细胞及催乳素受体定位在文昌鱼脑泡、神经管、哈氏窝、轮器、内柱、消化管和性腺(卵巢和精巢),表明催乳素在文昌鱼有广泛分布,并且从进化观点来看,证明催乳素是一种高度保守的古老激素。双重免疫染色进一步揭示催乳素及其受体免疫反应阳性物质共存于同一卵母细胞胞膜和胞质以及精巢中精原细胞、初级与次级精母细胞和Sertoli细胞。研究结果首次证明了文昌鱼脑泡和哈氏窝以及其它组织能够合成和分泌催乳素,表明像脊椎动物一样,催乳素可能参与调节文昌鱼体内代谢和对环境的适应以及性腺发育,提示文昌鱼可能出现原始的脑泡-哈氏窝(催乳素)-靶细胞调控轴的雏形。本研究为文昌鱼哈氏窝内分泌学以及催乳素的起源与演化提供新的基础资料。     

A Gbx homeobox gene in amphioxus: insights into ancestry of the ANTP class and evolution of the midbrain/hindbrain boundary

In the vertebrate central nervous system (CNS), mutual antagonism between posteriorly expressed Gbx2 and anteriorly expressed Otx2 positions the midbrain/hindbrain boundary (MHB), but does not induce MHB organizer genes such as En, Pax2/5/8 and Wnt1. In the CNS of the cephalochordate amphioxus, Otx is also expressed anteriorly, but En, Pax2/5/8 and Wnt1 are not expressed near the caudal limit of Otx, raising questions about the existence of an MHB organizer in amphioxus. To investigate the evolutionary origins of the MHB, we cloned the single amphioxus Gbx gene. Fluorescence in situ hybridization showed that, as in vertebrates, amphioxus Gbx and the Hox cluster are on the same chromosome. From analysis of linked genes, we argue that during evolution a single ancestral Gbx gene duplicated fourfold in vertebrates, with subsequent loss of two duplicates. Amphioxus Gbx is expressed in all germ layers in the posterior 75% of the embryo, and in the CNS, the Gbx and Otx domains abut at the boundary between the cerebral vesicle (forebrain/midbrain) and the hindbrain. Thus, the genetic machinery to position the MHB was present in the protochordate ancestors of the vertebrates, but is insufficient for induction of organizer genes. Comparison with hemichordates suggests that anterior Otx and posterior Gbx domains were probably overlapping in the ancestral deuterostome and came to abut at the MHB early in the chordate lineage before MHB organizer properties evolved.