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Orthodenticle and empty spiracles genes are expressed in a segmental pattern in chelicerates

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Abstract

Members of the orthodenticle (otd/Otx) and empty spiracles (ems/Emx) gene families are head gap genes that encode homeodomain-containing DNA-binding proteins. Although numerous studies show their central role in developmental processes in brain specification, a surprisingly high number of other developmental processes have been shown to involve their expression. In this paper, we report the identification and expression of ems and otd in two chelicerate species: a scorpion, Euscorpius flavicaudis (Chactidae, Scorpiona, Arachnida, Euchelicerata) and a spider, Tegenaria saeva (Aranea, Arachnida, Euchelicerata). We show that both ems and otd are expressed not only in an anterior head domain but also along the entire anterior–posterior axis during embryonic development. The expression patterns for both genes are typically segmental and concern neurectodermal territories. During patterning of the opisthosoma, ems and otd are expressed in the lateral ectoderm just anterior to the limb bud primordia giving rise to respiratory organs and spinnerets (spider). This common pattern found in two divergent species thus appears to be a conserved character of chelicerates. These results are discussed in terms of evolutionary origin of respiratory organs and/or functional pathway recruitment.

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Acknowledgements

We are particularly grateful to Gerhard Scholtz for his thorough reading of the manuscript and for his constructive comments and suggestions. We are grateful to Roland Stockmann for providing scorpions and scanning electron micrographs and to Pierrette Lamarre and Murielle Jager for their technical help during this work. We thank Jason Dunlop for comments on a first draft of the paper and Jean Deutsch and Michael Manuel for critical reading of the manuscript. Many thanks to David Cribbs for help in English writing. We are indebted to the two referees for critically reading and mostly improving the manuscript. F.S. is the recipient of a Ph.D. fellowship from the Ministère de la Recherche et de la Technologie.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR 7138-Equipe Evolution et Développement, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 9 quai Saint Bernard, Case 5, 75252, Paris Cedex 01, France

    Eric Quéinnec

  2. UMR 7625-Laboratoire de fonctionnement et évolution des systèmes écologiques, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 7 quai St Bernard, Case 237, 75252, Paris Cedex 01, France

    Marie-Louise Célérier

  3. Department of Developmental Biology, Joham-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institute, GZMB, Georg-August-University, Goettingen, Germany

    Franck Simonnet

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  1. Franck Simonnet
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  2. Marie-Louise Célérier
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  3. Eric Quéinnec
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Correspondence to Eric Quéinnec.

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Communicated by guest editors Jean Deutsch and Gerhard Scholtz

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Simonnet, F., Célérier, ML. & Quéinnec, E. Orthodenticle and empty spiracles genes are expressed in a segmental pattern in chelicerates. Dev Genes Evol 216, 467–480 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-006-0093-4

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