title: Cloning and Functional Analysis of Pax6 from the Hydrothermal Vent Tubeworm Ridgeia piscesae.
abstract: The paired box 6 (Pax6) gene encodes a transcription factor essential for eye development in a wide range of animal lineages. Here we describe the cloning and characterization of Pax6 gene from the blind hydrothermal vent tubeworm Ridgeia piscesae (RpPax6). The deduced RpPax6 protein shares extensive sequence identity with Pax6 proteins from other species and contains both the paired domain and a complete homeodomain. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that it clusters with the corresponding sequence from the closely related species Platynereis dumerilii (P. dumerilii) of Annelida. Luciferase reporter assay indicate that RpPax6 protein suppresses the transcription of sine oculis (so) in D. melanogaster, interfering with the C-terminal of RpPax6. Taking advantage of Drosophila model, we show that RpPax6 expression is not able to rescue small eye phenotype of ey2 mutant, only to cause a more severe headless phenotype. In addition, RpPax6 expression induced apoptosis and inhibition of apoptosis can partially rescue RpPax6-induced headless phenotype. We provide evidence RpPax6 plays at least two roles: it blocks the expression of later-acting transcription factors in the eye development cascade, and it promotes cell apoptosis. Our results indicate alternation of the Pax6 function may be one of the possible causes that lead the eye absence in vestimentiferan tubeworms.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Biogenetic Resources, Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China.
authors.forename: Huifang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Biogenetic Resources, Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Biogenetic Resources, Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Biogenetic Resources, Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China.|School of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Changkun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Biogenetic Resources, Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China.
authors.forename: Mingliang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Biogenetic Resources, Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China.
authors.forename: Linlin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Biogenetic Resources, Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China.
authors.forename: Lirong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Biogenetic Resources, Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China.
authors.forename: Jianming
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4666-0699
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000071841:PAX6 Transcription Factor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011077:Polychaeta / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D000071841:PAX6 Transcription Factor