Abstract
Cnidarians, the sister group to bilaterians, have a simple diffuse nervous system. This morphological simplicity and their phylogenetic position make them a crucial group in the study of the evolution of the nervous system. The development of their nervous systems is of particular interest, as by uncovering the genetic programme that underlies it, and comparing it with the bilaterian developmental programme, it is possible to make assumptions about the genes and processes involved in the development of ancestral nervous systems. Recent advances in sequencing methods, genetic interference techniques and transgenic technology have enabled us to get a first glimpse into the molecular network underlying the development of a cnidarian nervous system—in particular the nervous system of the anthozoan Nematostella vectensis. It appears that much of the genetic network of the nervous system development is partly conserved between cnidarians and bilaterians, with Wnt and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signalling, and Sox genes playing a crucial part in the differentiation of neurons. However, cnidarians possess some specific characteristics, and further studies are necessary to elucidate the full regulatory network. The work on cnidarian neurogenesis further accentuates the need to study non-model organisms in order to gain insights into processes that shaped present-day lineages during the course of evolution.
Highlights
Cnidarians, the sister group to bilaterians, have a simple diffuse nervous system
Recent advances in sequencing methods, genetic interference techniques and transgenic technology have enabled us to get a first glimpse into the molecular network underlying the development of a cnidarian nervous system—in particular the nervous system of the anthozoan Nematostella vectensis
It appears that much of the genetic network of the nervous system development is partly conserved between cnidarians and bilaterians, with Wnt and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signalling, and Sox genes playing a crucial part in the differentiation of neurons
Summary
With the exception of Placozoa and Porifera, the nervous system is a defining characteristic of Metazoa, and its appearance was probably a crucial determinant in their diversification and their capability to conquer almost all ecological niches. Nematostella became an important model system among cnidarians in the past decade [4,14,15,16] This brackish water organism has been put forward among other anthozoans owing to its accessibility and amenability for experimental research. It is readily kept under laboratory conditions, spawning can be induced reproducibly, the genome has been sequenced, and gene knockdown methods and stable transgenics have been established, which were insightful for our current understanding of neuronal development [17,18,19] (for review, see [15]). Nematostella has a surprisingly complex genome, including all major signalling pathways and most transcription factor families [18,20,21,22,23,24]
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