Project description:In feather-footed pigeons, mutant alleles of PITX1 and TBX5 drive the partial redeployment of an evolutionarily conserved forelimb genetic program in the hindlimb.
Project description:A comparative profile of miRNAs in livers during pigeon development was performed by using high-throughput sequencing. We identified known pigeon miRNAs, novel miRNAs, and miRNAs that are conserved in other birds and mammals.Our results expanded the repertoire of pigeon miRNAs and may be of help in better understanding the mechanism of squab’s rapid development from the perspective of liver development.
Project description:A comparative profile of miRNAs in pectoral muscle during pigeon development was performed by using high-throughput sequencing. We identified known pigeon miRNAs, novel miRNAs, and miRNAs that are conserved in other birds and mammals.Our results expanded the repertoire of pigeon miRNAs and may be of help in better understanding the mechanism of squab’s rapid development.
Project description:Salamander limb regeneration is an accurate process which gives rise exclusively to the missing structures, irrespective of the amputation level. This suggests that cells in the stump have an awareness of their spatial location, a property termed ‘positional identity’. Little is known about how positional identity is encoded, in salamanders or other biological systems. Through single-cell RNAseq analysis, we identified Tig1/RARRES1 as a potential determinant of proximal identity. Tig1 encodes a conserved cell surface molecule, is regulated by retinoic acid and exhibits a graded expression along the proximo-distal axis of the limb. Its overexpression leads to regeneration defects in the distal elements and elicits proximal displacement of blastema cells, while its neutralisation blocks proximo-distal cell surface interactions. Critically, Tig1 reprogrammes distal cells to a proximal identity, upregulating Prod1 and inhibiting HoxA13 and distal transcriptional networks. Thus, Tig1 is a central cell surface determinant of proximal identity in the salamander limb.
Project description:The genetic and developmental mechanisms that control the decision between scale and feather growth â two profoundly different epidermal appendages, and an important developmental shift in the evolution of birds from their dinosaurian ancestors â remain poorly understood. Domestic pigeons display dramatic variation in foot epidermal appendages within a single species, and classical studies suggest that a small number of genes control much of this variation; thus pigeons provide a tractable model to understand skin appendage specification and variation. Here we show that feathered feet in pigeons are the consequence of a partial transformation of limb-type identity mediated by cis-regulatory changes in the hindlimb-specific transcription factor Pitx1 and forelimb-specific transcription factor Tbx5. We also demonstrate that ectopic hindlimb expression of Tbx5 is associated with the development of foot feathers in domestic chickens, suggesting that similar developmental mechanisms underlie phenotypic convergence in avian lineages that diverged over 100 MYA. These results show how qualitative and quantitative changes in expression of regional patterning genes can generate localized changes in organ fate and morphology, and provide a viable molecular mechanism for the evolution of hindlimb scale and feather distribution in dromaeosaurs. Examination of H3K27ac status in embryonic limb buds from two domestic pigeon breeds, racing homer and Indian fantail
Project description:A comparative profile of miRNAs in pre- and post-differentiated pigeon SMSCs (SMSC-1d and SMSC-5d) was performed by using high-throughput sequencing. We identified known porcine miRNAs, novel miRNAs, and miRNAs that are conserved in other birds and mammals. Our findings demonstrated that miRNAs are extensively involved in the differentiation of SMSCs in pigeons, and provide a valuable resource for the pigeon breeding.