β-catenin specifies the endomesoderm and defines the posterior organizer of the hemichordate Saccoglossus kowalevskii.

ABSTRACT: The canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway is a key regulator of body plan organization and axis formation in metazoans, being involved in germ layer specification, posterior growth and patterning of the anteroposterior axis. Results from animals spanning a wide phylogenetic range suggest that a unifying function of β-catenin in metazoans is to define the posterior/vegetal part of the embryo. Although the specification of vegetal territories (endoderm) by β-catenin has been demonstrated in distantly related animals (cnidarians, a protostome, echinoderms and ascidians), the definition of the posterior part of the embryo is well supported only for vertebrates and planarians. To gain insights into β-catenin functions during deuterostome evolution, we have studied the early development of the direct

SUBMITTER: Darras S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3035098 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature