Changes in Nkx2.1, Sox2, Bmp4, and Bmp16 expression underlying the lung-to-gas bladder evolutionary transition in ray-finned fishes.

ABSTRACT: The key to understanding the evolutionary origin and modification of phenotypic traits is revealing the responsible underlying developmental genetic mechanisms. An important organismal trait of ray-finned fishes is the gas bladder, an air-filled organ that, in most fishes, functions for buoyancy control, and is homologous to the lungs of lobe-finned fishes. The critical morphological difference between lungs and gas bladders, which otherwise share many characteristics, is the general direction of budding during development. Lungs bud ventrally and the gas bladder buds dorsally from the anterior foregut. We investigated the genetic underpinnings of this ventral-to-dorsal shift in budding direction by studying the expression patterns of known lung genes (Nkx2.1, Sox2, and Bmp4) during the de

SUBMITTER: Funk EC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8013215 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature