Gene expression supports a single origin of horns and antlers in hoofed mammals.

ABSTRACT: Horns, antlers, and other bony cranial appendages of even-toed hoofed mammals (ruminant artiodactyls) challenge traditional morphological homology assessments. Cranial appendages all share a permanent bone portion with family-specific integument coverings, but homology determination depends on whether the integument covering is an essential component or a secondary elaboration of each structure. To enhance morphological homology assessments, we tested whether juvenile cattle horn bud transcriptomes share homologous gene expression patterns with deer antlers relative to pig outgroup tissues, treating the integument covering as a secondary elaboration. We uncovered differentially expressed genes that support horn and antler homology, potentially distinguish them from non-cranial-appendage bo

SUBMITTER: Calamari ZT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11106249 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature