Evolutionary conservation of the chromatin modulator Polycomb in the jellyfish Podocoryne carnea.
Polycomb-group (PcG) proteins form chromatin-associated multimeric complexes, which are responsible for the maintenance of the transcriptionally repressive state of regulatory genes during development. We have isolated a Polycomb homologue of the hydrozoan Podocoryne carnea by a PCR-based approach. Our results demonstrate that structure and function of Polycomb-group proteins have been conserved in evolution from cnidarians to vertebrates since Podocoryne Polycomb interacts in yeast with mouse dinG/RING1B, an interaction partner of the mouse Polycomb homologue MPc3. Polycomb is expressed throughout the life cycle of Podocoryne. In situ hybridization reveals a differential expression pattern in proliferating and differentiating tissues of the developing medusa bud. In the transdifferentiation of activated isolated striated muscle of the medusa to smooth muscle and RFamide-positive nerve cells, Polycomb expression is strongly increased when differentiation into nerve cells occurs.
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002843:Chromatin / Q000502:physiology*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D037402:Hydrozoa; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
D002843:Chromatin; D012097:Repressor Proteins