Feedback circuits are numerous in embryonic gene regulatory networks and offer a stabilizing influence on evolution of those networks.

ABSTRACT: The developmental gene regulatory networks (dGRNs) of two sea urchin species, Lytechinus variegatus (Lv) and Strongylocentrotus purpuratus (Sp), have remained remarkably similar despite about 50 million years since a common ancestor. Hundreds of parallel experimental perturbations of transcription factors with similar outcomes support this conclusion. A recent scRNA-seq analysis suggested that the earliest expression of several genes within the dGRNs differs between Lv and Sp. Here, we present a careful reanalysis of the dGRNs in these two species, paying close attention to timing of first expression. We find that initial expression of genes critical for cell fate specification occurs during several compressed time periods in both species. Previously unrecognized feedback circuits are infe

SUBMITTER: Massri AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10273620 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature