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Echinobase
ECB-ART-47178
Dev Biol January 1, 2019; 452 (1): 34-42.

Distinct transcriptional regulation of Nanos2 in the germ line and soma by the Wnt and delta/notch pathways.

Oulhen N , Swartz SZ , Wang L , Wikramanayake A , Wessel GM .


Abstract
Specification of the primordial germ cells (PGCs) is essential for sexually reproducing animals. Although the mechanisms of PGC specification are diverse between organisms, the RNA binding protein Nanos is consistently required in the germ line in all species tested. How Nanos is selectively expressed in the germ line, however, remains largely elusive. We report that in sea urchin embryos, the early expression of Nanos2 in the PGCs requires the maternal Wnt pathway. During gastrulation, however, Nanos2 expression expands into adjacent somatic mesodermal cells and this secondary Nanos expression instead requires Delta/Notch signaling through the forkhead family member FoxY. Each of these transcriptional regulators were tested by chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis and found to directly interact with a DNA locus upstream of Nanos2. Given the conserved importance of Nanos in germ line specification, and the derived character of the micromeres and small micromeres in the sea urchin, we propose that the ancestral mechanism of Nanos2 expression in echinoderms was by induction in mesodermal cells during gastrulation.

PubMed ID: 31075220
PMC ID: PMC6848975
Article link: Dev Biol
Grant support: [+]

Genes referenced: LOC582369 nanos2l
Morpholinos: foxy MO1 foxy MO2

References [+] :
Andrikou C, Myogenesis in the sea urchin embryo: the molecular fingerprint of the myoblast precursors. 2013, Pubmed, Echinobase