TY - JOUR TI - Little skate genome provides insights into genetic programs essential for limb-based locomotion AU - Yoo, DongAhn AU - Park, Junhee AU - Lee, Chul AU - Song, Injun AU - Lee, Young Ho AU - Yun, Tery AU - Lee, Hyemin AU - Heguy, Adriana AU - Han, Jae Yong AU - Dasen, Jeremy S AU - Kim, Heebal AU - Baek, Myungin A2 - Kratsios, Paschalis A2 - Dulac, Catherine VL - 11 PY - 2022 DA - 2022/10/26 SP - e78345 C1 - eLife 2022;11:e78345 DO - 10.7554/eLife.78345 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.78345 AB - The little skate Leucoraja erinacea, a cartilaginous fish, displays pelvic fin driven walking-like behavior using genetic programs and neuronal subtypes similar to those of land vertebrates. However, mechanistic studies on little skate motor circuit development have been limited, due to a lack of high-quality reference genome. Here, we generated an assembly of the little skate genome, with precise gene annotation and structures, which allowed post-genome analysis of spinal motor neurons (MNs) essential for locomotion. Through interspecies comparison of mouse, skate and chicken MN transcriptomes, shared and divergent gene expression profiles were identified. Comparison of accessible chromatin regions between mouse and skate MNs predicted shared transcription factor (TF) motifs with divergent ones, which could be used for achieving differential regulation of MN-expressed genes. A greater number of TF motif predictions were observed in MN-expressed genes in mouse than in little skate. These findings suggest conserved and divergent molecular mechanisms controlling MN development of vertebrates during evolution, which might contribute to intricate gene regulatory networks in the emergence of a more sophisticated motor system in tetrapods. KW - little skate KW - motor neuron KW - development KW - evolution KW - gene regulation KW - genome JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -