Unraveling the genetic variations underlying virulence disparities among SARS-CoV-2 strains across global regions: insights from Pakistan.

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, several SARS-CoV-2 variants have emerged that may exhibit different etiological effects such as enhanced transmissibility and infectivity. However, genetic variations that reduce virulence and deteriorate viral fitness have not yet been thoroughly investigated. The present study sought to evaluate the effects of viral genetic makeup on COVID-19 epidemiology in Pakistan, where the infectivity and mortality rate was comparatively lower than other countries during the first pandemic wave. For this purpose, we focused on the comparative analyses of 7096 amino-acid long polyprotein pp1ab. Comparative sequence analysis of 203 SARS-CoV-2 genomes, sampled from Pakistan during the first wave of the pandemic revealed 179 amino acid substitutions in pp1ab. Within this set, 38 substitutions were identified within the Nsp3 region of the pp1ab polyprotein. Structural and biophysical analysis of proteins revealed that amino acid variations within Nsp3's macrodomains induced conformational changes and modified protein-ligand interactions, consequently diminishing the virulence and fitness of SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, the epistatic effects resulting from evolutionary substitutions in SARS-CoV-2 proteins may have unnoticed implications for reducing disease burden. In light of these findings, further characterization of such deleterious SARS-CoV-2 mutations will not only aid in identifying potential therapeutic targets but will also provide a roadmap for maintaining vigilance against the genetic variability of diverse SARS-CoV-2 strains circulating globally. Furthermore, these insights empower us to more effectively manage and respond to potential viral-based pandemic outbreaks of a similar nature in the future.

Cis-regulatory control of mammalian Trps1 gene expression.

TRPS1 serves as the causative gene for tricho-rhino phalangeal syndrome, known for its craniofacial and skeletal abnormalities. The Trps1 gene encodes a protein that represses Wnt signaling through strong interactions with Wnt signaling inhibitors. The identification of genomic cis-acting regulatory sequences governing Trps1 expression is crucial for understanding its role in embryogenesis. Nevertheless, to date, no investigations have been conducted concerning these aspects of Trps1. To identify deeply conserved noncoding elements (CNEs) within the Trps1 locus, we employed a comparative genomics approach, utilizing slowly evolving fish such as coelacanth and spotted gar. These analyses resulted in the identification of eight CNEs in the intronic region of the Trps1 gene. Functional characterization of these CNEs in zebrafish revealed their regulatory potential in various tissues, including pectoral fins, heart, and pharyngeal arches. RNA in-situ hybridization experiments revealed concordance between the reporter expression pattern induced by the identified set of CNEs and the spatial expression pattern of the trps1 gene in zebrafish. Comparative in vivo data from zebrafish and mice for CNE7/hs919 revealed conserved functions of these enhancers. Each of these eight CNEs was further investigated in cell line-based reporter assays, revealing their repressive potential. Taken together, in vivo and in vitro assays suggest a context-dependent dual functionality for the identified set of Trps1-associated CNE enhancers. This functionally characterized set of CNE-enhancers will contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the developmental roles of Trps1 and can aid in the identification of noncoding DNA variants associated with human diseases.

Identification of ancestral gnathostome Gli3 enhancers with activity in mammals.

Abnormal expression of the transcriptional regulator and hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway effector Gli3 is known to trigger congenital disease, most frequently affecting the central nervous system (CNS) and the limbs. Accurate delineation of the genomic cis-regulatory landscape controlling Gli3 transcription during embryonic development is critical for the interpretation of noncoding variants associated with congenital defects. Here, we employed a comparative genomic analysis on fish species with a slow rate of molecular evolution to identify seven previously unknown conserved noncoding elements (CNEs) in Gli3 intronic intervals (CNE15-21). Transgenic assays in zebrafish revealed that most of these elements drive activities in Gli3 expressing tissues, predominantly the fins, CNS, and the heart. Intersection of these CNEs with human disease associated SNPs identified CNE15 as a putative mammalian craniofacial enhancer, with conserved activity in vertebrates and potentially affected by mutation associated with human craniofacial morphology. Finally, comparative functional dissection of an appendage-specific CNE conserved in slowly evolving fish (elephant shark), but not in teleost (CNE14/hs1586) indicates co-option of limb specificity from other tissues prior to the divergence of amniotes and lobe-finned fish. These results uncover a novel subset of intronic Gli3 enhancers that arose in the common ancestor of gnathostomes and whose sequence components were likely gradually modified in other species during the process of evolutionary diversification.

Evolutionary relevance of single nucleotide variants within the forebrain exclusive human accelerated enhancer regions.

BACKGROUND: Human accelerated regions (HARs) are short conserved genomic sequences that have acquired significantly more nucleotide substitutions than expected in the human lineage after divergence from chimpanzees. The fast evolution of HARs may reflect their roles in the origin of human-specific traits. A recent study has reported positively-selected single nucleotide variants (SNVs) within brain-exclusive human accelerated enhancers (BE-HAEs) hs1210 (forebrain), hs563 (hindbrain) and hs304 (midbrain/forebrain). By including data from archaic hominins, these SNVs were shown to be Homo sapiens-specific, residing within transcriptional factors binding sites (TFBSs) for SOX2 (hs1210), RUNX1/3 (hs563), and FOS/JUND (hs304). Although these findings suggest that the predicted modifications in TFBSs may have some role in present-day brain structure, work is required to verify the extent to which these changes translate into functional variation. RESULTS: To start to fill this gap, we investigate the SOX2 SNV, with both forebrain expression and strong signal of positive selection in humans. We demonstrate that the HMG box of SOX2 binds in vitro with Homo sapiens-specific derived A-allele and ancestral T-allele carrying DNA sites in BE-HAE hs1210. Molecular docking and simulation analysis indicated highly favourable binding of HMG box with derived A-allele containing DNA site when compared to site carrying ancestral T-allele. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that adoptive changes in TF affinity within BE-HAE hs1210 and other HAR enhancers in the evolutionary history of Homo sapiens might. have brought about changes in gene expression patterns and have functional consequences on forebrain formation and evolution. METHODS: The present study employ electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) and molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations approaches.

Genomic Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Pakistan.

COVID-19 has swept globally and Pakistan is no exception. To investigate the initial introductions and transmissions of the SARS-CoV-2 in Pakistan, we performed the largest genomic epidemiology study of COVID-19 in Pakistan and generated 150 complete SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences from samples collected from March 16 to June 1, 2020. We identified a total of 347 mutated positions, 31 of which were over-represented in Pakistan. Meanwhile, we found over 1000 intra-host single-nucleotide variants (iSNVs). Several of them occurred concurrently, indicating possible interactions among them or coevolution. Some of the high-frequency iSNVs in Pakistan were not observed in the global population, suggesting strong purifying selections. The genomic epidemiology revealed five distinctive spreading clusters. The largest cluster consisted of 74 viruses which were derived from different geographic locations of Pakistan and formed a deep hierarchical structure, indicating an extensive and persistent nation-wide transmission of the virus that was probably attributed to a signature mutation (G8371T in ORF1ab) of this cluster. Furthermore, 28 putative international introductions were identified, several of which are consistent with the epidemiological investigations. In all, this study has inferred the possible pathways of introductions and transmissions of SARS-CoV-2 in Pakistan, which could aid ongoing and future viral surveillance and COVID-19 control.

Molecular evolutionary analysis of human primary microcephaly genes.

BACKGROUND: There has been a rapid increase in the brain size relative to body size during mammalian evolutionary history. In particular, the enlarged and globular brain is the most distinctive anatomical feature of modern humans that set us apart from other extinct and extant primate species. Genetic basis of large brain size in modern humans has largely remained enigmatic. Genes associated with the pathological reduction of brain size (primary microcephaly-MCPH) have the characteristics and functions to be considered ideal candidates to unravel the genetic basis of evolutionary enlargement of human brain size. For instance, the brain size of microcephaly patients is similar to the brain size of Pan troglodyte and the very early hominids like the Sahelanthropus tchadensis and Australopithecus afarensis. RESULTS: The present study investigates the molecular evolutionary history of subset of autosomal recessive primary microcephaly (MCPH) genes; CEP135, ZNF335, PHC1, SASS6, CDK6, MFSD2A, CIT, and KIF14 across 48 mammalian species. Codon based substitutions site analysis indicated that ZNF335, SASS6, CIT, and KIF14 have experienced positive selection in eutherian evolutionary history. Estimation of divergent selection pressure revealed that almost all of the MCPH genes analyzed in the present study have maintained their functions throughout the history of placental mammals. Contrary to our expectations, human-specific adoptive evolution was not detected for any of the MCPH genes analyzed in the present study. CONCLUSION: Based on these data it can be inferred that protein-coding sequence of MCPH genes might not be the sole determinant of increase in relative brain size during primate evolutionary history.

Molecular signatures of selection on the human GLI3 associated central nervous system specific enhancers.

The zinc finger-containing transcription factor Gli3 is a key mediator of Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway. In vertebrates, Gli3 has widespread expression pattern during early embryonic development. Along the anteroposterior axes of the central nervous system (CNS), dorsoventral neural pattern elaboration is achieved through Hh mediated spatio-temporal deployment of Gli3 transcripts. Previously, we and others uncovered a set of enhancers that mediate many of the known aspects of Gli3 expression during neurogenesis. However, the potential role of Gli3 associated enhancers in trait evolution has not yet received any significant attention. Here, we investigate the evolutionary patterns of Gli3 associated CNS-specific enhancers that have been reported so far. A subset of these enhancers has undergone an accelerated rate of molecular evolution in the human lineage in comparison to other primates/mammals. These fast-evolving enhancers have acquired human-specific changes in transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs). These human-unique changes within subset of Gli3 associated CNS-specific enhancers were further validated as single nucleotide polymorphisms through 1000 Genome Project Phase 3 data. This work not only infers the molecular evolutionary patterns of Gli3 associated enhancers but also provides clues for putative genetic basis of the population-specificity of gene expression regulation.

Comparative genomic analysis of human GLI2 locus using slowly evolving fish revealed the ancestral gnathostome set of early developmental enhancers.

BACKGROUND: The zinc finger-containing transcription factor Gli2, is a key mediator of Hedgehog (Hh) signaling and participates in embryonic patterning of various organs including the central nervous system (CNS) and limbs. Abnormal expression of Gli2 can impede the transcription of Hh target genes through disruption of proper balance between Gli2 and Gli3 functions. Therefore, delineation of enhancers that are required for complementary roles of Glis would allow the interrogation of those pathogenic variants that cause gene dysregulation, and a corresponding abnormal phenotype. Previously, we reported tissue-specific enhancers for Gli family including Gli2 through direct tetrapod-teleost comparisons. RESULTS: Here, we employed the sequence alignments of slowly evolving spotted gar and elephant shark and have identified six novel conserved noncoding elements in human GLI2 containing locus. Zebrafish-based transgenic assays revealed that combined action of these autonomous CNEs reflects many aspects of Gli2 specific endogenous transcriptional activity, including CNS and pectoral fins. CONCLUSION: Taken together with our previous findings, this study suggests that Hh-signaling controlled deployment of Gli2 activity in embryonic patterning arose in the common ancestor of gnathostomes. These GLI2 specific cis-regulatory modules will help to identify DNA variants that probably reside outside of coding intervals and are associated with congenital anomalies.

Evolutionary and structural analysis of SARS-CoV-2 specific evasion of host immunity.

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is spreading fast worldwide. There is a pressing need to understand how the virus counteracts host innate immune responses. Deleterious clinical manifestations of coronaviruses have been associated with virus-induced direct dysregulation of innate immune responses occurring via viral macrodomains located within nonstructural protein-3 (Nsp3). However, no substantial information is available concerning the relationship of macrodomains to the unusually high pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2. Here, we show that structural evolution of macrodomains may impart a critical role to the unique pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2. Using sequence, structural, and phylogenetic analysis, we identify a specific set of historical substitutions that recapitulate the evolution of the macrodomains that counteract host immune response. These evolutionary substitutions may alter and reposition the secondary structural elements to create new intra-protein contacts and, thereby, may enhance the ability of SARS-CoV-2 to inhibit host immunity. Further, we find that the unusual virulence of this virus is potentially the consequence of Darwinian selection-driven epistasis in protein evolution. Our findings warrant further characterization of macrodomain-specific evolutionary substitutions in in vitro and in vivo models to determine their inhibitory effects on the host immune system.

Molecular evolutionary and structural analysis of human UCHL1 gene demonstrates the relevant role of intragenic epistasis in Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders.

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder. PD associated human UCHL1 (Ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1) gene belongs to the family of deubiquitinases and is known to be highly expressed in neurons (1-2% in soluble form). Several functions of UCHL1 have been proposed including ubiquitin hydrolyze activity, ubiquitin ligase activity and stabilization of the mono-ubiquitin. Mutations in human UCHL1 gene have been associated with PD and other neurodegenerative disorders. The present study aims to decipher the sequence evolutionary pattern and structural dynamics of UCHL1. Furthermore, structural and interactional analysis of UCHL1 was performed to help elucidate the pathogenesis of PD. RESULTS: The phylogenetic tree topology suggests that the UCHL1 gene had originated in early gnathostome evolutionary history. Evolutionary rate analysis of orthologous sequences reveals strong purifying selection on UCHL1. Comparative structural analysis of UCHL1 pinpoints an important protein segment spanning amino acid residues 32 to 39 within secretion site with crucial implications in evolution and PD pathogenesis through a well known phenomenon called intragenic epistasis. Identified critical protein segment appears to play an indispensable role in protein stability, proper protein conformation as well as harboring critical interaction sites. CONCLUSIONS: Conclusively, the critical protein segment of UCHL1 identified in the present study not only demonstrates the relevant role of intraprotein conformational epistasis in the pathophysiology of PD but also offers a novel therapeutic target for the disease.

Evolutionary history of the human multigene families reveals widespread gene duplications throughout the history of animals.

BACKGROUND: The hypothesis that vertebrates have experienced two ancient, whole genome duplications (WGDs) is of central interest to evolutionary biology and has been implicated in evolution of developmental complexity. Three-way and Four-way paralogy regions in human and other vertebrate genomes are considered as vital evidence to support this hypothesis. Alternatively, it has been proposed that such paralogy regions are created by small-scale duplications that occurred at different intervals over the evolution of life. RESULTS: To address this debate, the present study investigates the evolutionary history of multigene families with at least three-fold representation on human chromosomes 1, 2, 8 and 20. Phylogenetic analysis and the tree topology comparisons classified the members of 36 multigene families into four distinct co-duplicated groups. Gene families falling within the same co-duplicated group might have duplicated together, whereas genes belong to different co-duplicated groups might have distinct evolutionary origins. CONCLUSION: Taken together with previous investigations, the current study yielded no proof in favor of WGDs hypothesis. Rather, it appears that the vertebrate genome evolved as a result of small-scale duplication events, that cover the entire span of the animals' history.

Molecular evolutionary and structural analysis of familial exudative vitreoretinopathy associated FZD4 gene.

BACKGROUND: Frizzled family members belong to G-protein coupled receptors and encode proteins accountable for cell signal transduction, cell proliferation and cell death. Members of Frizzled receptor family are considered to have critical roles in causing various forms of cancer, cardiac hypertrophy, familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR) and schizophrenia. RESULTS: This study investigates the evolutionary and structural aspects of Frizzled receptors, with particular focus on FEVR associated FZD4 gene. The phylogenetic tree topology suggests the diversification of Frizzled receptors at the root of metazoans history. Moreover, comparative structural data reveals that FEVR associated missense mutations in FZD4 effect the common protein region (amino acids 495-537) through a well-known phenomenon called epistasis. This critical protein region is present at the carboxyl-terminal domain and encompasses the K-T/S-XXX-W, a PDZ binding motif and S/T-X-V PDZ recognition motif. CONCLUSION: Taken together these results demonstrate that during the course of evolution, FZD4 has acquired new functions or epistasis via complex patter of gene duplications, sequence divergence and conformational remodeling. In particular, amino acids 495-537 at the C-terminus region of FZD4 protein might be crucial in its normal function and/or pathophysiology. This critical region of FZD4 protein may offer opportunities for the development of novel therapeutics approaches for human retinal vascular disease.

Homo sapiens-Specific Binding Site Variants within Brain Exclusive Enhancers Are Subject to Accelerated Divergence across Human Population.

Empirical assessments of human accelerated noncoding DNA frgaments have delineated presence of many cis-regulatory elements. Enhancers make up an important category of such accelerated cis-regulatory elements that efficiently control the spatiotemporal expression of many developmental genes. Establishing plausible reasons for accelerated enhancer sequence divergence in Homo sapiens has been termed significant in various previously published studies. This acceleration by including closely related primates and archaic human data has the potential to open up evolutionary avenues for deducing present-day brain structure. This study relied on empirically confirmed brain exclusive enhancers to avoid any misjudgments about their regulatory status and categorized among them a subset of enhancers with an exceptionally accelerated rate of lineage specific divergence in humans. In this assorted set, 13 distinct transcription factor binding sites were located that possessed unique existence in humans. Three of 13 such sites belonging to transcription factors SOX2, RUNX1/3, and FOS/JUND possessed single nucleotide variants that made them unique to H. sapiens upon comparisons with Neandertal and Denisovan orthologous sequences. These variants modifying the binding sites in modern human lineage were further substantiated as single nucleotide polymorphisms via exploiting 1000 Genomes Project Phase3 data. Long range haplotype based tests laid out evidence of positive selection to be governing in African population on two of the modern human motif modifying alleles with strongest results for SOX2 binding site. In sum, our study acknowledges acceleration in noncoding regulatory landscape of the genome and highlights functional parts within it to have undergone accelerated divergence in present-day human population.

An insight into the evolutionary history of human MHC paralogon.

The vertebrate genome contains several closely spaced sets of paralogous genes from distinct gene families on typically two, three or four different chromosomes (paralogons). These four fold paralogy regions have been considered as historical remnants of whole genome duplication events (WGDs/2R hypothesis). To examine the 2R hypothesis, a robust phylogenetic analysis of 40 multigene families with triplicated or quadruplicated distribution on human MHC bearing chromosomes (1/6/9/19) was conducted. Topology comparison approach categorized the members of 40 families into six distinct co-duplicated groups. Genes belonging to a particular co-duplicated group are duplicated concurrently, whereas genes of two different co-duplicated groups do not share their evolutionary history and have not duplicated in harmony. Our results based on this large scale phylogenetic data set contradict the polyploidization model and are indicative of small-scale duplications and rearrangement events that cover the entire span of animal history.

Genomic features of human limb specific enhancers.

To elucidate important cellular and molecular interactions that regulate patterning and skeletal development, vertebrate limbs served as a model organ. A growing body of evidence from detailed studies on a subset of limb regulators like the HOXD cluster or SHH, reveals the importance of enhancers in limb related developmental and disease processes. Exploiting the recent genome-wide availability of functionally confirmed enhancer dataset, this study establishes regulatory interactions for dozens of human limb developmental genes. From these data, it appears that the long-range regulatory interactions are fairly common during limb development. This observation highlights the significance of chromosomal breaks/translocations in human limb deformities. Transcriptional factor (TF) analysis predicts that the differentiation of early nascent limb-bud into future territories entail distinct TF interaction networks. Conclusively, an important motivation for annotating the human limb specific regulatory networks is to pave way for the systematic exploration of their role in disease and evolution.

The Parkinson Disease gene SNCA: Evolutionary and structural insights with pathological implication.

After Alzheimer, Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder. Alpha synuclein (SNCA) is deemed as a major component of Lewy bodies, a neuropathological feature of PD. Five point mutations in SNCA have been reported so far, responsible for autosomal dominant PD. This study aims to decipher evolutionary and structural insights of SNCA by revealing its sequence and structural evolutionary patterns among sarcopterygians and its paralogous counterparts (SNCB and SNCG). Rate analysis detected strong purifying selection on entire synuclein family. Structural dynamics divulges that during the course of sarcopterygian evolutionary history, the region encompassed 32 to 58 of N-terminal domain of SNCA has acquired its critical functional significance through the epistatic influence of the lineage specific substitutions. In sum, these findings provide an evidence that the region from 32 to 58 of N-terminal lipid binding alpha helix domain of SNCA is the most critical region, not only from the evolutionary perspective but also for the stability and the proper conformation of the protein as well as crucial for the disease pathogenesis, harboring critical interaction sites.

Molecular evolution of WDR62, a gene that regulates neocorticogenesis.

Human brain evolution is characterized by dramatic expansion in cerebral cortex size. WDR62 (WD repeat domain 62) is one of the important gene in controlling human cortical development. Mutations in WDR62 lead to primary microcephaly, a neurodevelopmental disease characterized by three to four fold reduction in cerebral cortex size of affected individuals. This study analyzes comparative protein evolutionary rate to provide a useful insight into the molecular evolution of WDR62 and hence pinpointed human specific amino acid replacements. Comparative analysis of human WDR62 with two archaic humans (Neanderthals and Denisovans) and modern human populations revealed that five hominin specific amino acid residues (human specific amino acids shared with two archaic humans) might have been accumulated in the common ancestor of extinct archaic humans and modern humans about 550,000-765,000 years ago. Collectively, the data demonstrates an acceleration of WDR62 sequence evolution in hominin lineage and suggests that the ability of WDR62 protein to mediate the neurogenesis has been altered in the course of hominin evolution.

Phylogenomic analysis reveals ancient segmental duplications in the human genome.

Evolution of organismal complexity and origin of novelties during vertebrate history has been widely explored in context of both regulation of gene expression and gene duplication events. Ohno (1970) for the first time put forward the idea of two rounds whole genome duplication events as the most plausible explanation for evolutionarizing the vertebrate lineage (2R hypothesis). To test the validity of 2R hypothesis, a robust phylogenomic analysis of multigene families with triplicated or quadruplicated representation on human FGFR bearing chromosomes (4/5/8/10) was performed. Topology comparison approach categorized members of 80 families into five distinct co-duplicated groups. Genes belonging to one co-duplicated group are duplicated concurrently, whereas genes of two different co-duplicated groups do not share their duplication history and have not duplicated in congruency. Our findings contradict the 2R model and are indicative of small-scale duplications and rearrangements that cover the entire span of animal's history.

Diversification of four human HOX gene clusters by step-wise evolution rather than ancient whole-genome duplications.

HOX genes encode transcriptional factors that play a pivotal role in specifying regional identity in nearly every bilateral animal. The birth of HOX gene cluster and its subsequent evolution, either in regulation or function, underlie the evolution of many bilaterian features and hence to the evolutionary radiation of this group. Despite of this importance, evolution of HOX cluster in vertebrates remains largely obscure because the phylogenetic history of these genes is poorly resolved. This has led to the controversy about whether four HOX clusters in human originated through two rounds (2R) of whole-genome duplications or instead evolved by small-scale events early in vertebrate evolution. Recently, the large-scale phylogenetic analysis of triplicate and quadruplicate paralogous regions residing on human HOX-bearing chromosomes provided an unprecedented insight into events that shaped vertebrate genome early in their history. Based on these data and comparative genomic analysis of fruit fly, red floor beetle, and human, this study infers the genic content of minimal HOX locus in the Urbilaterian and reconstructs its duplication history. It appears that four HOX clusters of humans are not remnants of polyploidy events in vertebrate ancestry. Rather, current evidence suggests that one-to-four transition in HOX cluster number occurred by three-step sequential process involving regional duplication events. Therefore, it is concluded that the evolutionary origin of vertebrate novelties, including the complexity of their body, is the consequence of small-scale genetic changes at widely different times over their history.

Identification and functional characterization of novel transcriptional enhancers involved in regulating human GLI3 expression during early development.

The zinc-finger transcription factor GLI3 acts as a primary transducer of Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling in a context-dependent combinatorial fashion. GLI3 participates in the patterning and growth of many organs, including the central nervous system (CNS) and limbs. Previously, we reported a subset of human intronic cis-regulators controlling many known aspects of endogenous Gli3 expression in mouse and zebrafish. Here we demonstrate in a transgenic zebrafish assay the potential of two novel tetrapod-teleost conserved non-coding elements (CNEs) docking within GLI3 intronic intervals (intron 3 and 4) to induce reporter gene expression at known sites of endogenous Gli3 transcription in embryonic domains such as the central nervous system (CNS) and limbs. Interestingly, the cell culture based assays reveal harmony with the context dependent dual nature of intra-GLI3 conserved elements. Furthermore, a transgenic zebrafish assay of previously reported limb-specific GLI3 transcriptional enhancers (previously tested in mice and chicken limb buds) induced reporter gene expression in zebrafish blood precursor cells and notochord instead of fin. These results demonstrate that the appendage-specific activity of a subset of GLI3-associated enhancers might be a tetrapod innovation. Taken together with our recent data, these results suggest that during the course of vertebrate evolution Gli3 expression control acquired a complex cis-regulatory landscape for spatiotemporal patterning of CNS and limbs. Comparative data from fish and mice suggest that the functional aspects of a subset of these cis-regulators have diverged significantly between these two lineages.