Conserved nuclear hormone receptors controlling a novel plastic trait target fast-evolving genes expressed in a single cell.
Bogdan SieriebriennikovShuai SunJames W LightfootHanh WitteEduardo MorenoChristian RödelspergerRalf J SommerPublished in: PLoS genetics (2020)
Environment shapes development through a phenomenon called developmental plasticity. Deciphering its genetic basis has potential to shed light on the origin of novel traits and adaptation to environmental change. However, molecular studies are scarce, and little is known about molecular mechanisms associated with plasticity. We investigated the gene regulatory network controlling predatory vs. non-predatory dimorphism in the nematode Pristionchus pacificus and found that it consists of genes of extremely different age classes. We isolated mutants in the conserved nuclear hormone receptor nhr-1 with previously unseen phenotypic effects. They disrupt mouth-form determination and result in animals combining features of both wild-type morphs. In contrast, mutants in another conserved nuclear hormone receptor nhr-40 display altered morph ratios, but no intermediate morphology. Despite divergent modes of control, NHR-1 and NHR-40 share transcriptional targets, which encode extracellular proteins that have no orthologs in Caenorhabditis elegans and result from lineage-specific expansions. An array of transcriptional reporters revealed co-expression of all tested targets in the same pharyngeal gland cell. Major morphological changes in this gland cell accompanied the evolution of teeth and predation, linking rapid gene turnover with morphological innovations. Thus, the origin of feeding plasticity involved novelty at the level of genes, cells and behavior.
Keyphrases
- single cell
- genome wide
- transcription factor
- wild type
- genome wide identification
- rna seq
- dna methylation
- high throughput
- copy number
- induced apoptosis
- gene expression
- poor prognosis
- cell therapy
- high resolution
- magnetic resonance
- bioinformatics analysis
- stem cells
- computed tomography
- oxidative stress
- cell cycle arrest
- risk assessment
- cell proliferation
- cell death
- body composition
- magnetic resonance imaging
- network analysis
- single molecule
- bone mineral density
- loop mediated isothermal amplification
- heat shock protein
- case control
- sensitive detection
- liquid chromatography
- quantum dots