On the origin of appetite: GLWamide in jellyfish represents an ancestral satiety neuropeptide.

Food intake is regulated by internal state. This function is mediated by hormones and neuropeptides, which are best characterized in popular model species. However, the evolutionary origins of such feeding-regulating neuropeptides are poorly understood. We used the jellyfish Cladonema to address this question. Our combined transcriptomic, behavioral, and anatomical approaches identified GLWamide as a feeding-suppressing peptide that selectively inhibits tentacle contraction in this jellyfish. In the fruit fly Drosophila, myoinhibitory peptide (MIP) is a related satiety peptide. Surprisingly, we found that GLWamide and MIP were fully interchangeable in these evolutionarily distant species for feeding suppression. Our results suggest that the satiety signaling systems of diverse animals share an ancient origin.

Gene expression alterations from reversible to irreversible stages during coral metamorphosis.

For corals, metamorphosis from planktonic larvae to sedentary polyps is an important life event, as it determines the environment in which they live for a lifetime. Although previous studies on the reef-building coral Acropora have clarified a critical time point during metamorphosis when cells are committed to their fates, as defined by an inability to revert back to their previous states as swimming larvae (here referred to as the "point of no return"), the molecular mechanisms of this commitment to a fate remain unclear. To address this issue, we analyzed the transcriptomic changes before and after the point of no return by inducing metamorphosis of Acropora tenuis with Hym-248, a metamorphosis-inducing neuropeptide. Gene Ontology and pathway enrichment analysis of the 5893 differentially expressed genes revealed that G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) were enriched, including GABA receptor and Frizzled gene subfamilies, which showed characteristic temporal expression patterns. The GPCRs were then classified by comparison with those of Homo sapiens, Nematostella vectensis and Platynereis dumerilii. Classification of the differentially expressed genes into modules based on expression patterns showed that some modules with large fluctuations after the point of no return were biased toward functions such as protein metabolism and transport. This result suggests that in precommitted larvae, different types of GPCR genes function to ensure a proper environment, whereas in committed larvae, intracellular protein transport and proteolysis may cause a loss of the reversibility of metamorphosis as a result of cell differentiation.

Draxin regulates hippocampal neurogenesis in the postnatal dentate gyrus by inhibiting DCC-induced apoptosis.

Hippocampal neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) is controlled by diffusible molecules that modulate neurogenic processes, including cell proliferation, differentiation and survival. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying hippocampal neurogenesis, we investigated the function of draxin, originally identified as a neural chemorepellent, in the regulation of neuronal survival in the DG. Draxin was expressed in Tbr2 (+) late progenitors and NeuroD1 (+) neuroblasts in the dentate granule cell lineage, whereas expression of its receptor DCC (deleted in colorectal cancer) was mainly detectable in neuroblasts. Our phenotypic analysis revealed that draxin deficiency led to enhanced apoptosis of DCC-expressing neuroblasts in the neurogenic areas. Furthermore, in vitro assays using a hippocampal neural stem/progenitor cell (HNSPC) line indicated that draxin inhibited apoptosis in differentiating HNSPCs, which express DCC. Taken together, we postulate that draxin plays a pivotal role in postnatal DG neurogenesis as a dependence receptor ligand for DCC to maintain and promote survival of neuroblasts.

Divergence in sex steroid hormone signaling between sympatric species of Japanese threespine stickleback.

Sex steroids mediate the expression of sexually dimorphic or sex-specific traits that are important both for mate choice within species and for behavioral isolation between species. We investigated divergence in sex steroid signaling between two sympatric species of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus): the Japan Sea form and the Pacific Ocean form. These sympatric forms diverge in both male display traits and female mate choice behaviors, which together contribute to asymmetric behavioral isolation in sympatry. Here, we found that plasma levels of testosterone and 17ß-estradiol differed between spawning females of the two sympatric forms. Transcript levels of follicle-stimulating hormone-ß (FSHß) gene were also higher in the pituitary gland of spawning Japan Sea females than in the pituitary gland of spawning Pacific Ocean females. By contrast, none of the sex steroids examined were significantly different between nesting males of the two forms. However, combining the plasma sex steroid data with testis transcriptome data suggested that the efficiency of the conversion of testosterone into 11-ketotestosterone has likely diverged between forms. Within forms, plasma testosterone levels in males were significantly correlated with male body size, a trait important for female mate choice in the two sympatric species. These results demonstrate that substantial divergence in sex steroid signaling can occur between incipient sympatric species. We suggest that investigation of the genetic and ecological mechanisms underlying divergence in hormonal signaling between incipient sympatric species will provide a better understanding of the mechanisms of speciation in animals.

Roles of the RecJ and RecQ proteins in spontaneous formation of deletion mutations in the Escherichia coli K12 endogenous tonB gene.

The endogenous tonB gene of Escherichia coli was used as a target for spontaneous deletion mutations which were isolated from recJ(-) and recQ(-) cells. Large deletions, due to simultaneous mutations of the trp operon, were also isolated. The rates of tonB mutation were 2.77 x 10(-8), 4.13 x 10(-8) and 5.00 x 10(-8) for rec(+), recJ(-) and recQ(-) cells, respectively. We analyzed 94 and 99 tonB mutants from the recJ(-) and recQ(-) cells, respectively, by sequencing. We found that IS insertion dominated, followed by base substitutions, frameshifts and deletions in both recJ(-) and recQ(-) strains. We then analyzed 55 tonB-trp deletions, ranging in size from 5907 to 20,832 bp, from the recJ(-) strains and 47 tonB-trp deletions, ranging in size from 4,959 to 16,390 bp from the recQ(-) strains. About one-third of tonB-trp deletions from both the recJ(-) and the recQ(-) cells were found to have occurred between short sequence repeats at the deletion termini. About one-third of tonB-trp deletions from both mutants showed 2-4 bp repeats in the immediate vicinity of the endpoints, which appeared to indicate no clear association with deletion. The remaining one-third of tonB-trp deletions had no homology at the endpoint. These results were similar to those for the rec(+) cells. Hanada and colleagues demonstrated that structually similar rearrangements arising during lambda bio phage formation (illegitimate recombination) increased in the recQ(-) strain. To explain this discrepancy, we interpreted as distinctive the mechanism for rearrangement during transducing phage formation which is recQ-dependent and that for deletions formed in chromosomes which is recQ-independent.