Journal article
Long-read sequencing reveals increased isoform diversity in key transcription factor effectors of intercellular signalling at the invertebrate-vertebrate transition
- Abstract:
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Several intercellular signalling pathways (namely wingless - Wnt, Hedgehog - Hh, and Bone Morphogenetic Protein - BMP) are used repeatedly in animals throughout development and evolution, and are also frequent targets for disease-associated disruptions. We have previously shown that the major transcriptional effectors of βcatenin-dependent Wnt signalling, the TCF/LEF proteins, in contrast to other pathway components, have a higher gene number and isoform diversity in vertebrates versus invertebrates, but this increased diversity has only been poorly quantified. Considering that isoform diversity correlates with organism complexity, any increase in major signalling effectors is likely to have made a significant contribution to vertebrate evolution. Using de novo long-read transcriptomes, we compared isoform number per gene for the chordates Ciona intestinalis, Lampetra planeri and Xenopus tropicalis, thus encompassing the invertebrate sister group to vertebrates, as well as a cyclostome and a gnathostome vertebrate. Our results implicate an increase in isoform diversity of the transcription factors of major intercellular signalling pathways as having a disproportionate role in the evolutionary origin and diversification of vertebrates.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 2.1MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1186/s12915-026-02522-w
Authors
- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/00cwqg982
- Grant:
- BB/X015203/1
- Publisher:
- Springer
- Journal:
- BMC Biology More from this journal
- Volume:
- 24
- Issue:
- 1
- Article number:
- 28
- Publication date:
- 2026-01-24
- Acceptance date:
- 2026-01-16
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1741-7007
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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2357275
- Local pid:
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pubs:2357275
- Deposit date:
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2026-01-09
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Torres-Aguila et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2026
- Rights statement:
- Copyright © 2026, The Author(s). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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