Shinji and colleagues, 2017

Shinji J, Miyanishi H, Gotoh H, Lavine M, Lavine L. 2017. The role of the transcription factor Smox during appendage regeneration in the crayfish Procambarus fallax f. virginalis. Presentation SP06-28 at The Japanese Society of Fisheries Science 85th Anniversary-Commemorative International Symposium, “Fisheries Science for Future Generations,” Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, 22 to 24 September 2017. https://www.gakkai-web.net/gakkai/jsfs/sympo/usb/data/html/P02.html

Abstract

Regeneration is a common phenomenon among animals. Members of the phylum Arthropoda, comprising over 80% of total animal species, exhibit strong capacities for regeneration, but little is known about the molecular mechanisms mediating this process. In this study, we investigated the role of the activin signaling pathway in limb regeneration in the decapod crustacean Procambarus fallax f. virginalis. We identified and cloned a downstream transcription factor in the activin pathway, Smox. The Smox gene showed 3 splicing variants, but only one of them encoded a complete Smox transcription factor. Gene knockdown of Smox by RNAi induced formation of smaller limb buds and regeneration of complete but smaller pereopods after autotomy. This indicates that activin signaling via Smox functions in regulation of pereopod size. The expression levels of both Smox and the activin receptor babo were closely correlated with molting. The expression level of Smox during the molting cycle increased when the receptor babo was knocked down by RNAi, indicating that Smox and babo transcription are linked. Our study suggests that the Babo-Smox system in activin signaling is conserved in decapods, and supports an evolutionary conservation of this aspect of molecular signaling during regeneration between protostomes and deuterostomes.

Keywords: None provided.