TY - JOUR
T1 - Conservation of a DPP/BMP signaling pathway in the nonbilateral cnidarian Acropora millepora
AU - Samuel, Gabrielle
AU - Miller, David John
AU - Saint, Robert B.
PY - 2001/7
Y1 - 2001/7
N2 - Members of the TGF‐β superfamily of signaling molecules are widespread in metazoans, but the evolutionary origin of particular subclasses of signaling mechanisms is poorly defined. The DPP/BMP class, for example, is implicated in dorsal‐ventral patterning, neural patterning, and limb development. Here we report the presence of several components of a DPP/BMP‐specific signal transduction cascade in a nonbilateral animal, the coral Acropora millepora. The discovery of these components, a putative type I receptor and two putative receptor‐activated Smads, suggests that DPP/BMP signaling predates both dorsal‐ventral pattern formation and limb development. We postulate that an ancestral role in neuroepithelial patterning may account for the high level of conservation between DPP/BMP signaling components found in this nonbilateral animal and the more complex triploblastic organisms of the arthropod and chordate phyla.
AB - Members of the TGF‐β superfamily of signaling molecules are widespread in metazoans, but the evolutionary origin of particular subclasses of signaling mechanisms is poorly defined. The DPP/BMP class, for example, is implicated in dorsal‐ventral patterning, neural patterning, and limb development. Here we report the presence of several components of a DPP/BMP‐specific signal transduction cascade in a nonbilateral animal, the coral Acropora millepora. The discovery of these components, a putative type I receptor and two putative receptor‐activated Smads, suggests that DPP/BMP signaling predates both dorsal‐ventral pattern formation and limb development. We postulate that an ancestral role in neuroepithelial patterning may account for the high level of conservation between DPP/BMP signaling components found in this nonbilateral animal and the more complex triploblastic organisms of the arthropod and chordate phyla.
U2 - 10.1046/j.1525-142x.2001.003004241.x
DO - 10.1046/j.1525-142x.2001.003004241.x
M3 - Article
SN - 1520-541X
VL - 3
SP - 241
EP - 250
JO - EVOLUTION & DEVELOPMENT
JF - EVOLUTION & DEVELOPMENT
IS - 4
ER -