The Pax gene family: Highlights from cephalopods.

Pax genes play important roles in Metazoan development. Their evolution has been extensively studied but Lophotrochozoa are usually omitted. We addressed the question of Pax paralog diversity in Lophotrochozoa by a thorough review of available databases.

Emergence of sensory structures in the developing epidermis in sepia officinalis and other coleoid cephalopods.

Embryonic cuttlefish can first respond to a variety of sensory stimuli during early development in the egg capsule. To examine the neural basis of this ability, we investigated the emergence of sensory structures within the developing epidermis. We show that the skin facing the outer environment (not the skin lining the mantle cavity, for example) is derived from embryonic domains expressing the Sepia officinalis ortholog of pax3/7, a gene involved in epidermis specification in vertebrates.

Delayed and asynchronous ganglionic maturation during cephalopod neurogenesis as evidenced by Sof-elav1 expression in embryos of Sepia officinalis (Mollusca, Cephalopoda).

Among the Lophotrochozoa, centralization of the nervous system reaches an exceptional level of complexity in cephalopods, where the typical molluscan ganglia become highly developed and fuse into hierarchized lobes. It is known that ganglionic primordia initially emerge early and simultaneously during cephalopod embryogenesis but no data exist on the process of neuron differentiation in this group. We searched for members of the elav/hu family in the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis, since they are one of the first genetic markers of postmitotic neural cells.

orthodenticle/otx ortholog expression in the anterior brain and eyes of Sepia officinalis (Mollusca, Cephalopoda).

The origin of cerebral structures is a major issue in both developmental and evolutionary biology. Among Lophotrochozoans, cephalopods present both a derived nervous system and an original body plan, therefore they constitute a key model to study the evolution of nervous system and molecular processes that control the neural organization. We characterized a partial sequence of an ortholog of otx2 in Sepia officinalis embryos, a gene specific to the anterior nervous system and eye development.