Developmental Gene Expression in Amphioxus: New Insights into the Evolutionary Origin of Vertebrate Brain Regions, Neural Crest, and Rostrocaudal Segmentation

Abstract

SYNOPSIS. Amphioxus is widely held to be the closest invertebrate relative of the vertebrates and the best available stand-in for the proximate ancestor of the vertebrates. The spatiotemporal expression patterns of developmental genes can help suggest body part homologies between vertebrates and amphioxus. This approach is illustrated using five homeobox genes (AmphiHoxl, AmphiHox2, AmphiOtx, AmphiDll, and AmphiEri) to provide insights into the evolutionary origins of three important vertebrate features: the major brain regions, the neural crest, and rostrocaudal segmentation. During amphioxus development, the neural expression patterns of these genes are consistent with the presence of a forebrain (detailed neuroanatomy indicates that the forebrain is all diencephalon without any telencephalon) and an extensive hindbrain; the possible presence of a midbrain requires additional study. Further, during neurulation, the expression pattern of AmphiDll as well as migratory cell behavior suggest that the epidermal cells bordering the neural plate may represent a phylogenetic precursor of the vertebrate neural crest. Finally, when the paraxial mesoderm begins to segment, the earliest expression of AmphiEn is detected in the posterior part of each nascent and newly formed somite. This pattern recalls the expression of the segment-polarity gene engrailed during establishment of the segments of metameric protostomes. Thus, during animal evolution, the role of engrailed in establishing and maintaining metameric body plans may have arisen in a common segmented ancestor of both the protostomes and deuterostomes.