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Hox genes in brachiopods and priapulids and protostome evolution

Nature volume 399, pages 772–776 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Understanding the early evolution of animal body plans requires knowledge both of metazoan phylogeny and of the genetic and developmental changes involved in the emergence of particular forms. Recent 18S ribosomal RNA phylogenies suggest a three-branched tree for the Bilateria comprising the deuterostomes and two great protostome clades, the lophotrochozoans1 and ecdysozoans2. Here, we show that the complement of Hox genes in critical protostome phyla reflects these phylogenetic relationships and reveals the early evolution of developmental regulatory potential in bilaterians. We have identified Hox genes that are shared by subsets of protostome phyla. These include a diverged pair of posterior (Abdominal-B -like) genes in both a brachiopod and a polychaete annelid, which supports the lophotrochozoan assemblage, and a distinct posterior Hox gene shared by a priapulid, a nematode and the arthropods, which supports the ecdysozoan clade. The ancestors of each of these two major protostome lineages had a minimum of eight to ten Hox genes. The major period of Hox gene expansion and diversification thus occurred before the radiation of each of the three great bilaterian clades.

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Figure 1: Alignment of Hox homeodomains and flanking sequences.
Figure 2: Phylogenetic analysis of bilaterian posterior Hox homeodomain sequences.
Figure 3: Distribution of Hox genes in bilaterians.

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Acknowledgements

We thank B. Winnepenninckx for L. anatina DNA; A. Knowlton, R. Highsmith, and P. Reynolds for P. caudatus tissue; E. Davidson for his interest and for sharing unpublished data; V. Kassner and N. Lartillot for their help; and A. Friday and G. Budd for comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the BBSRC and the Wellcome trust (M.E.A.); the Russian Basic Research Foundation and the Royal Society (T.A.); the CNRS, program ‘Genome’ and the Université Paris-Sud (A.A.); and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (J.K.G. and S.B.C.).

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Author notes

  1. Guillaume Balavoine

    Present address: Centre de Gntique Moléculaire, CNRS UPR 9061, Ave. de la Terrasse, Btiment 26, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

  2. Renaud de Rosa and Jennifer K. Grenier: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire 4, CNRS UPRESA Q8080, Université Paris-Sud , 91405, Orsay Cedex, France

    Renaud de Rosa & André Adoutte

  2. Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin, 1525 Linden Drive, Madison, 53706, Wisconsin, USA

    Jennifer K. Grenier & Sean B. Carroll

  3. Department of Embryology, Biological Institute, St Petersburg University, 199034, St Petersburg, Russia

    Tatiana Andreeva

  4. Department of Zoology, Laboratory for Development and Evolution University Museum of Zoology, Downing St, CB2 3EJ, Cambridge, UK

    Charles E. Cook, Michael Akam & Guillaume Balavoine

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  1. Renaud de Rosa
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Correspondence to Guillaume Balavoine.

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de Rosa, R., Grenier, J., Andreeva, T. et al. Hox genes in brachiopods and priapulids and protostome evolution. Nature 399, 772–776 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/21631

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