Journal
DEVELOPMENTAL CELL
Volume 35, Issue 1, Pages 107-119Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2015.09.003
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Funding
- NSF [1149453]
- NIH [HD081034]
- University of Georgia
- Sharon Stewart Aniridia Trust
- Southern Regional Education Board Doctoral Scholars Program
- Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems
- Direct For Biological Sciences [1149453] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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The amniote phallus and limbs differ dramatically in their morphologies but share patterns of signaling and gene expression in early development. Thus far, the extent to which genital and limb transcriptional networks also share cis-regulatory elements has remained unexplored. We show that many limb enhancers are retained in snake genomes, suggesting that these elements may function in non-limb tissues. Consistent with this, our analysis of cis-regulatory activity in mice and Anolis lizards reveals that patterns of enhancer activity in embryonic limbs and genitalia overlap heavily. In mice, deletion of HLEB, an enhancer of Tbx4, produces defects in hindlimbs and genitalia, establishing the importance of this limb-genital enhancer for development of these different appendages. Further analyses demonstrate that the HLEB of snakes has lost hindlinnb enhancer function while retaining genital activity. Our findings identify roles for Tbx4 in genital development and highlight deep similarities in cis-regulatory activity between limbs and genitalia.
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