Sutton, G;
White, LJ;
Ford, AGP;
Shechonge, A;
Day, JJ;
Dasmahapatra, KK;
Pownall, ME;
(2020)
Exploring the expression of cardiac regulators in a vertebrate adapted to an extreme environment: the cichlid fish Oreochromis (Alcolapia) alcalica.
Journal of Developmental Biology
, 8
(4)
, Article 22. 10.3390/jdb8040022.
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Abstract
Although it is widely accepted that the cellular and molecular mechanisms of vertebrate cardiac development are evolutionarily conserved, this is on the basis of data from only a few model organisms suited to laboratory studies. Here, we investigate gene expression during cardiac development in the extremophile, non-model fish species, Oreochromis (Alcolapia) alcalica. We first characterise the early development of O. alcalica and observe extensive vascularisation across the yolk prior to hatching. We further investigate heart development by identifying and cloning O. alcalica orthologues of conserved cardiac transcription factors gata4, tbx5, and mef2c for analysis by in situ hybridisation. Expression of these three key cardiac developmental regulators also reveals other aspects of O. alcalica development, as these genes are expressed in developing blood, limb, eyes, and muscle, as well as the heart. Our data support the notion that O. alcalica is a direct-developing vertebrate that shares the highly conserved molecular regulation of the vertebrate body plan. However, the expression of gata4 in O. alcalica reveals interesting di erences in the development of the circulatory system distinct from that of the well-studied zebrafish. Understanding the development of O. alcalica embryos is an important step towards providing a model for future research into the adaptation to extreme conditions; this is particularly relevant given that anthropogenic-driven climate change will likely result in more freshwater organisms being exposed to less favourable conditions.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Exploring the expression of cardiac regulators in a vertebrate adapted to an extreme environment: the cichlid fish Oreochromis (Alcolapia) alcalica |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3390/jdb8040022 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.3390/jdb8040022 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2020 by the Authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | cichlid fish; extremophile; environmental adaptation; cardiac myogenesis |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Genetics, Evolution and Environment |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10114300 |
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