Identification of a feather β-keratin gene exclusively expressed in pennaceous barbule cells of contour feathers in chicken

Kowata, Kinue; Nakaoka, Minori; Nishio, Kaori; Fukao, Ayaka; Satoh, Akira; Ogoshi, Maho; Takahashi, Sumio; Tsudzuki, Masaoki; Tanaka, Sakae

doi:10.1016/j.gene.2014.03.027

Cited by 29 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…There is a growing amount of evidence that feather β-keratins on different chromosomes have different expression profiles. For example, the feather β-keratin found on chromosome 7, barbule specific keratin 1 ( BlSK1 ), was found to be expressed in feather follicles which specifically produce pennaceous barbules, but no expression was found in the follicles destined to form plumulaceous barbules (Kowata et al, 2014). Furthermore, Greenwold et al (2014) found different profiles of expression between feather β-keratins on microchromosome 25 and 27 while Ng et al (2014) found expression profile differences between single feather β-keratins of chromosome 2, 6, 7, 25 and 27 for regenerating contour and fight feathers using in situ hybridization.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expressed miRNAs target feather related mRNAs involved in cell signaling, cell adhesion and structure during chicken epidermal development

Bao

Greenwold

Sawyer

2016

Gene

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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Previous studies have shown that miRNA regulation contributes to a diverse set of processes including cellular differentiation and morphogenesis which leads to the creation of different cell types in multicellular organisms and is thus key to animal development. Feathers are one of the most distinctive features of extant birds and are important for multiple functions including flight, thermal regulation, and sexual selection. However, the role of miRNAs in feather development has been woefully understudied despite the identification of cell signaling pathways, cell adhesion molecules and structural genes involved in feather development. In this study, we performed a microarray experiment comparing the expression of miRNAs and mRNAs among three embryonic stages of development and two tissues (scutate scale and feather) of the chicken. We combined this expression data with miRNA target prediction tools and a curated list of feather related genes to produce a set of 19 miRNA-mRNA duplexes. These targeted mRNAs have been previously identified as important cell signaling and cell adhesion genes as well as structural genes involved in feather and scale morphogenesis. Interestingly, the miRNA target site of the cell signaling pathway gene, Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1 Family, Member A3 (ALDH1A3), is unique to birds indicating a novel role in Aves. The identified miRNA target site of the cell adhesion gene, Tenascin C (TNC), is only found in specific chicken TNC splice variants that are differentially expressed in developing scutate scale and feather tissue indicating an important role of miRNA regulation in epidermal differentiation. Additionally, we found that β-keratins, a major structural component of avian and reptilian epidermal appendages, are targeted by multiple miRNA genes. In conclusion, our work provides quantitative expression data on miRNAs and mRNAs during feather and scale development and has produced a highly diverse, but manageable list of miRNA-mRNA duplexes for future validation experiments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expressed miRNAs target feather related mRNAs involved in cell signaling, cell adhesion and structure during chicken epidermal development

Bao

Greenwold

Sawyer

2016

Gene

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“…The expansion of the feather β-keratins genes is thought to have contributed to the evolution and diversity of feathers [39]. An uncharacterized feather β-keratin gene, named barbule specific keratin 1 ( BLSK1 ), is expressed specifically in feather follicles that generate pennaceous barbules but not in follicles that generated plumulaceous barbule [40]. Further expression experiments indicated that BLSK1 might be involved in the formation of pennaceous barbules and hooklets.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A cis-Regulatory Mutation of PDSS2 Causes Silky-Feather in Chickens

et al. 2014

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Silky-feather has been selected and fixed in some breeds due to its unique appearance. This phenotype is caused by a single recessive gene (hookless, h). Here we map the silky-feather locus to chromosome 3 by linkage analysis and subsequently fine-map it to an 18.9 kb interval using the identical by descent (IBD) method. Further analysis reveals that a C to G transversion located upstream of the prenyl (decaprenyl) diphosphate synthase, subunit 2 (PDSS2) gene is causing silky-feather. All silky-feather birds are homozygous for the G allele. The silky-feather mutation significantly decreases the expression of PDSS2 during feather development in vivo. Consistent with the regulatory effect, the C to G transversion is shown to remarkably reduce PDSS2 promoter activity in vitro. We report a new example of feather structure variation associated with a spontaneous mutation and provide new insight into the PDSS2 function.

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“…Indeed, the study of feather evolution and function has been hindered by the scarcity of keratin expression data. Some earlier work was done to detect β-keratin expression by in situ hybridization (9,29). With recent advances in chicken genome research, we are now able to generate specific probes to investigate detailed expression patterns of α-and β-keratin genes in feathers, scales, claws, and beaks.…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Topographical mapping of α- and β-keratins on developing chicken skin integuments: Functional interaction and evolutionary perspectives

Yan

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Avian integumentary organs include feathers, scales, claws, and beaks. They cover the body surface and play various functions to help adapt birds to diverse environments. These keratinized structures are mainly composed of corneous materials made of α-keratins, which exist in all vertebrates, and β-keratins, which only exist in birds and reptiles. Here, members of the keratin gene families were used to study how gene family evolution contributes to novelty and adaptation, focusing on tissue morphogenesis. Using chicken as a model, we applied RNA-seq and in situ hybridization to map α-and β-keratin genes in various skin appendages at embryonic developmental stages. The data demonstrate that temporal and spatial α-and β-keratin expression is involved in establishing the diversity of skin appendage phenotypes. Embryonic feathers express a higher proportion of β-keratin genes than other skin regions. In feather filament morphogenesis, β-keratins show intricate complexity in diverse substructures of feather branches. To explore functional interactions, we used a retrovirus transgenic system to ectopically express mutant α-or antisense β-keratin forms. α-and β-keratins show mutual dependence and mutations in either keratin type results in disrupted keratin networks and failure to form proper feather branches. Our data suggest that combinations of α-and β-keratin genes contribute to the morphological and structural diversity of different avian skin appendages, with feather-β-keratins conferring more possible composites in building intrafeather architecture complexity, setting up a platform of morphological evolution of functional forms in feathers.skin appendage | feather | scale | claw | beak | Evo-Devo

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Identification of a feather β-keratin gene exclusively expressed in pennaceous barbule cells of contour feathers in chicken

Cited by 29 publications

References 23 publications

Expressed miRNAs target feather related mRNAs involved in cell signaling, cell adhesion and structure during chicken epidermal development

Expressed miRNAs target feather related mRNAs involved in cell signaling, cell adhesion and structure during chicken epidermal development

A cis-Regulatory Mutation of PDSS2 Causes Silky-Feather in Chickens

Topographical mapping of α- and β-keratins on developing chicken skin integuments: Functional interaction and evolutionary perspectives

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