Transcriptional regulation of Rab32/38, a specific marker of pigment cell formation in Ciona robusta.

Dev Biol

Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn Napoli, Villa Comunale, 80121 Napoli, Italy. Electronic address:

Published: April 2019

AI Article Synopsis

  • Animal pigmentation is vital for adapting to different environments, involving various pigments stored in specialized cells.
  • The study focuses on Rab32 and Rab38 genes in Ciona robusta that transport important enzymes for pigmentation, and indicates a single Rab32/38 gene is responsible for this function in tunicates.
  • Key findings reveal that two Mitf binding sites in a specific regulatory region are crucial for pigment cell development, suggesting Mitf plays an important role in regulating Rab32/38 activity during this process.

Article Abstract

Through a myriad of pigments stored in different cells, animal pigmentation represents a crucial process to face disparate environmental and ecological challenges. In vertebrates, the small GTPase Rab32 and Rab38 have a conserved role in the transport of key melanogenic enzymes, as tyrosinase (tyr) and tyrosinase-related protein (tyrp), to the melanosomes in formation. We provide a survey on Rab32/38 evolution and its regulatory logics during pigment cell formation in Ciona robusta. Our phylogeny supports the existence of a single Rab32/38 gene in tunicates, which is probably the unique transporter for tyrosinase family members in this clade. Different deletions allow us to identify the minimal cis-regulatory element able to recapitulate the endogenous gene expression during pigment cell development in C. robusta. In this conserved region, we identified two putative binding sites for the transcription factor Mitf, which is known for its role as regulator of pigmentation in vertebrates. Mutational analysis revealed that both Mitf binding sites are essential for the activity of this regulatory region and we demonstrated that Mitf misexpression is able to induce ectopic activation of the Rab32/38 regulatory region in vivo. Our results strongly indicate that Mitf is involved in the regulation of Rab32/38 activity during Ciona pigment cell development.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2018.11.013DOI Listing

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