Fibronectin contributes to notochord intercalation in the invertebrate chordate, Ciona intestinalis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Genomic analysis has upended chordate phylogeny, placing the tunicates as the sister group to the vertebrates. This taxonomic rearrangement raises questions about the emergence of a tunicate/vertebrate ancestor.

Results

Characterization of developmental genes uniquely shared by tunicates and vertebrates is one promising approach for deciphering developmental shifts underlying acquisition of novel, ancestral traits. The matrix glycoprotein Fibronectin (FN) has long been considered a vertebrate-specific gene, playing a major instructive role in vertebrate embryonic development. However, the recent computational prediction of an orthologous "vertebrate-like" Fn gene in the genome of a tunicate, Ciona savignyi, challenges this viewpoint suggesting that Fn may have ari

SUBMITTER: Segade F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5006582 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature