Medina-Jiménez Brenda I, Budd Graham E, Janssen Ralf
Department of Earth Sciences, Palaeobiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Department of Zoology, Zoologiska institutionen: Populationsgenetik, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Dev Dyn. 2025 Aug 7. doi: 10.1002/dvdy.70069.
Jointed appendages represent one of the key innovations of arthropods, and thus understanding the development and evolution of these structures is important for the understanding of the evolutionary success of Arthropoda. In this paper, we analyze a cell cluster that was identified in a previous single-cell sequencing (SCS) experiment on embryos of the spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum. This cell cluster is characterized by marker genes that suggest a role in appendage patterning and joint development.
We analyzed the expression profiles of these marker genes showing that they are expressed in the developing appendages and in a pattern that suggests a potential function during joint development. Several of the investigated genes represent new and unexpected factors such as dysfusion (dysf), spätzle3 (spz3), seven-up (svp). In order to study their evolutionary origin, we also investigated orthologs of the identified appendage-patterning genes in the harvestman Phalangium opilio, a distantly related chelicerate.
Our work highlights the usefulness of SCS experiments for the identification of potential new genetic factors that are involved in specific developmental processes. The current data provide potential new insights into the gene regulatory networks that underlie arthropod joint development.
分节附肢是节肢动物的关键创新之一，因此了解这些结构的发育和进化对于理解节肢动物的进化成功至关重要。在本文中，我们分析了在先前对蜘蛛温血拟壁钱胚胎进行的单细胞测序（SCS）实验中鉴定出的一个细胞簇。该细胞簇的特征是具有一些标记基因，这些基因表明其在附肢模式形成和关节发育中发挥作用。
我们分析了这些标记基因的表达谱，结果表明它们在发育中的附肢中表达，且表达模式表明其在关节发育过程中可能具有潜在功能。一些被研究的基因代表了新的和意想不到的因子，如融合缺陷基因（dysf）、斯佩茨勒3基因（spz3）、七上基因（svp）。为了研究它们的进化起源，我们还研究了在亲缘关系较远的螯肢动物长脚蛛中已鉴定的附肢模式形成基因的直系同源基因。
我们的工作突出了单细胞测序实验在识别参与特定发育过程的潜在新遗传因子方面的有用性。目前的数据为节肢动物关节发育背后的基因调控网络提供了潜在的新见解。
