Conservation of BF-1 expression in amphioxus and zebrafish suggests evolutionary ancestry of anterior cell types that contribute to the vertebrate telencephalon.
The forkhead domain containing transcription factor BF-1 has been shown to play a major role in the correct development of the cerebral hemispheres in the mouse. BF-1 orthologs have been isolated from zebrafish and the cephalocordate amphioxus. In both species, BF-1 is expressed in the anterior neural tube. In zebrafish zBF-1 expression is restricted to anterior portions of the otic vesicle and to the presumptive telencephalon. In amphioxus AmphiBF-1 is transiently seen in the frontal part of the first somite and, at 3 days of development, in a small number of cells in the cerebral vesicle (cv). The anterior expression of BF-1 in chordates and vertebrates and of slp-1/2 in Drosophila suggests that BF-1 is crucial for an evolutionarily conserved specification of anterior neuronal cell types.
Toresson
H
H
Developmental Biology Unit, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Lund University, S-22362 Lund, Sweden.
Martinez-Barbera
J P
JP
Bardsley
A
A
Caubit
X
X
Krauss
S
S
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002816:Chordata, Nonvertebrate / Q000235:genetics*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D013687:Telencephalon / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000235:genetics*
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; C489562:Foxd1 protein, mouse; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins