Primitive duplicate Hox clusters in the European eel's genome.

The enigmatic life cycle and elongated body of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla L., 1758) have long motivated scientific enquiry. Recently, eel research has gained in urgency, as the population has dwindled to the point of critical endangerment. We have assembled a draft genome in order to facili...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS ONE
Main Authors: Christiaan V Henkel, Erik Burgerhout, Daniëlle L de Wijze, Ron P Dirks, Yuki Minegishi, Hans J Jansen, Herman P Spaink, Sylvie Dufour, Finn-Arne Weltzien, Katsumi Tsukamoto, Guido E E J M van den Thillart
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012
Subjects:
Medicine
R
Science
Q
Anguilla anguilla
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0032231
https://doaj.org/article/d22e7b21a68145d187886ac66360e45f
Description
Summary:The enigmatic life cycle and elongated body of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla L., 1758) have long motivated scientific enquiry. Recently, eel research has gained in urgency, as the population has dwindled to the point of critical endangerment. We have assembled a draft genome in order to facilitate advances in all provinces of eel biology. Here, we use the genome to investigate the eel's complement of the Hox developmental transcription factors. We show that unlike any other teleost fish, the eel retains fully populated, duplicate Hox clusters, which originated at the teleost-specific genome duplication. Using mRNA-sequencing and in situ hybridizations, we demonstrate that all copies are expressed in early embryos. Theories of vertebrate evolution predict that the retention of functional, duplicate Hox genes can give rise to additional developmental complexity, which is not immediately apparent in the adult. However, the key morphological innovation elsewhere in the eel's life history coincides with the evolutionary origin of its Hox repertoire.

Similar Items