Accelerated Evolution Analysis Uncovers PKNOX2 as a Key Transcription Factor in the Mammalian Cochlea.

ABSTRACT: The genetic bases underlying the evolution of morphological and functional innovations of the mammalian inner ear are poorly understood. Gene regulatory regions are thought to play an important role in the evolution of form and function. To uncover crucial hearing genes whose regulatory machinery evolved specifically in mammalian lineages, we mapped accelerated noncoding elements (ANCEs) in inner ear transcription factor (TF) genes and found that PKNOX2 harbors the largest number of ANCEs within its transcriptional unit. Using reporter gene expression assays in transgenic zebrafish, we determined that four PKNOX2-ANCEs drive differential expression patterns when compared with ortholog sequences from close outgroup species. Because the functional role of PKNOX2 in cochlear hair cells has no

SUBMITTER: Trigila AP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10337857 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature