title: A cnidarian homologue of an insect gustatory receptor functions in developmental body patterning.
abstract: Insect gustatory and odorant receptors (GRs and ORs) form a superfamily of novel transmembrane proteins, which are expressed in chemosensory neurons that detect environmental stimuli. Here we identify homologues of GRs (Gustatory receptor-like (Grl) genes) in genomes across Protostomia, Deuterostomia and non-Bilateria. Surprisingly, two Grls in the cnidarian Nematostella vectensis, NvecGrl1 and NvecGrl2, are expressed early in development, in the blastula and gastrula, but not at later stages when a putative chemosensory organ forms. NvecGrl1 transcripts are detected around the aboral pole, considered the equivalent to the head-forming region of Bilateria. Morpholino-mediated knockdown of NvecGrl1 causes developmental patterning defects of this region, leading to animals lacking the apical sensory organ. A deuterostome Grl from the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus displays similar patterns of developmental expression. These results reveal an early evolutionary origin of the insect chemosensory receptor family and raise the possibility that their ancestral role was in embryonic development.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biology and Medicine, Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, Genopode Building, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saina
authors.affiliation: Sars Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen N-5008, Norway.
authors.forename: Henriette
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Busengdal
authors.affiliation: Sars Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen N-5008, Norway.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sinigaglia
authors.affiliation: Departments of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, and Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Libero
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Petrone
authors.affiliation: Departments of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, and Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Oliveri
authors.affiliation: Sars Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen N-5008, Norway.
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rentzsch
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biology and Medicine, Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, Genopode Building, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Benton
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D036703:Blastula / Q000378:metabolism; D019521:Body Patterning; D002628:Chemoreceptor Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005775:Gastrula / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D016678:Genome; D023281:Genomics; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D007313:Insecta; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000378:metabolism; D012615:Sea Anemones / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D047270:Strongylocentrotus purpuratus / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface