Redeployment of a conserved gene regulatory network during Aedes aegypti development.

ABSTRACT: Changes in gene regulatory networks (GRNs) underlie the evolution of morphological novelty and developmental system drift. The fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster and the dengue and Zika vector mosquito Aedes aegypti have substantially similar nervous system morphology. Nevertheless, they show significant divergence in a set of genes co-expressed in the midline of the Drosophila central nervous system, including the master regulator single minded and downstream genes including short gastrulation, Star, and NetrinA. In contrast to Drosophila, we find that midline expression of these genes is either absent or severely diminished in A. aegypti. Instead, they are co-expressed in the lateral nervous system. This suggests that in A. aegypti this "midline GRN" has been redeployed to a new location w

SUBMITTER: Suryamohan K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4983235 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature