Hmx gene conservation identifies the origin of vertebrate cranial ganglia.

ABSTRACT: The evolutionary origin of vertebrates included innovations in sensory processing associated with the acquisition of a predatory lifestyle¹. Vertebrates perceive external stimuli through sensory systems serviced by cranial sensory ganglia, whose neurons arise predominantly from cranial placodes; however, the understanding of the evolutionary origin of placodes and cranial sensory ganglia is hampered by the anatomical differences between living lineages and the difficulty in assigning homology between cell types and structures. Here we show that the homeobox transcription factor Hmx is a constitutive component of vertebrate sensory ganglion development and that in the tunicate Ciona intestinalis, Hmx is necessary and sufficient to drive the differentiation programme of bipolar ta

SUBMITTER: Papadogiannis V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10214386 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature