Large Christopher R L, Khanal Rupa, Hillier LaDeana, Huynh Chau, Kubo Connor, Kim Junhyong, Waterston Robert H, Murray John I
Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Science. 2025 Jun 19;388(6753):eadu8249. doi: 10.1126/science.adu8249.
The constraints that govern the evolution of gene expression patterns across development remain unclear. Single-cell RNA sequencing can detail these constraints by systematically profiling homologous cells. The conserved invariant embryonic lineage of and makes them ideal for comparing cell type gene expression across evolution. Measuring the spatiotemporal divergence of gene expression across embryogenesis, we find a high level of similarity in gene expression programs between species despite tens of millions of years of evolutionary divergence. Nonetheless, thousands of genes show divergence in their cell type specific expression patterns, with enrichment for functions in environmental response and behavior. Neuronal cell types show higher divergence than others such as the intestine and germline. This work identifies likely constraints on the evolution of developmental gene expression.
控制基因表达模式在整个发育过程中演变的限制因素仍不清楚。单细胞RNA测序可以通过系统地分析同源细胞来详细了解这些限制因素。[物种名称]保守不变的胚胎谱系使其成为比较进化过程中细胞类型基因表达的理想选择。通过测量胚胎发育过程中基因表达的时空差异，我们发现尽管经历了数千万年的进化分歧，但物种间基因表达程序仍存在高度相似性。尽管如此，仍有成千上万的基因在其细胞类型特异性表达模式上表现出差异，这些基因在环境反应和行为功能方面富集。神经元细胞类型比其他细胞类型（如肠道和生殖系）表现出更高的差异。这项工作确定了发育基因表达进化可能受到的限制。
