Comparative Transcriptomics Reveals Distinct Patterns of Gene Expression Conservation through Vertebrate Embryogenesis.

ABSTRACT: Despite life's diversity, studies of variation often remind us of our shared evolutionary past. Abundant genome sequencing and analyses of gene regulatory networks illustrate that genes and entire pathways are conserved, reused, and elaborated in the evolution of diversity. Predating these discoveries, 19th-century embryologists observed that though morphology at birth varies tremendously, certain stages of vertebrate embryogenesis appear remarkably similar across vertebrates. In the mid to late 20th century, anatomical variability of early and late-stage embryos and conservation of mid-stages embryos (the "phylotypic" stage) was named the hourglass model of diversification. This model has found mixed support in recent analyses comparing gene expression across species possibly owing to dif

SUBMITTER: Chan ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8358226 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature