Biology subjects

Josephson, M. P.

Publications and source records attributed to Josephson, M. P..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2020

Contrasting tempos of sex chromosome degeneration in sticklebacks

The steps of sex chromosome evolution are often thought to follow a predictable pattern and tempo, but few studies have examined how the outcomes of this process differ between closely related species with homologous sex chromosomes. The sex chromosomes of the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and Japan Sea stickleback (G. nipponicus) have been well characterized. Little is known, however, about the sex chromosomes in their distantly related congener, the blackspotted stickleback (G. wheatlandi). We used pedigrees of interspecific crosses to obtain the first phased X and Y genomic sequences from blackspotted sticklebacks. Using novel statistical methods, we demonstrate that the oldest stratum of the Gasterosteus sex chromosomes evolved on Chromosome 19 in the ancestor of all three species. Despite this shared ancestry, the sex chromosomes of the blackspotted stickleback have experienced much more extensive recombination suppression, XY differentiation, and Y degeneration than those of the other two species. The ancestral blackspotted stickleback Y chromosome fused with Chromosome 12 less than 1.4 million years ago, which may have been favored by the very small size of the recombining region on the ancestral sex chromosome. Recombination is also suppressed between the X and Y over the bulk of Chromosome 12, although it has experienced little degeneration. These results demonstrate that sex chromosome evolution does not always follow a predictable tempo.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2020

The predicted RNA-binding protein ETR-1/CELF1 acts in muscles to regulate neuroblast migration in Caenorhabditis elegans

Neuroblast migration is a critical aspect of nervous system development (e.g., neural crest migration). In an unbiased forward genetic screen, we identified a novel player in neuroblast migration, the ETR-1/CELF1 RNA binding protein. CELF1 RNA binding proteins are involved in multiple aspects of RNA processing including alternative splicing, stability, and translation. We find that a specific mutation in alternatively-spliced exon 8 results in migration defects of the AQR and PQR neurons, and not the embryonic lethality and body wall muscle defects of complete knockdown of the locus. Surprisingly, ETR-1 was required in body wall muscle cells for AQR/PQR migration (i.e. it acts cell non-autonomously). Genetic interactions indicate that ETR-1 acts with Wnt signaling, either in the Wnt pathway or in a parallel pathway. Possibly, ETR-1 is involved in the production of a Wnt signal or a parallel signal by the body wall muscles that controls AQR and PQR neuronal migration. In humans, CELF1 is involved in a number of neuromuscular disorders. If the role of ETR-1/CELF1 is conserved, these disorders might also involve cell or neuronal migration. Finally, we describe a technique of amplicon sequencing to detect rare, cell-specific genome edits by CRISPR/Cas9 in vivo (CRISPR-seq) as an alternative to the T7E1 assay.

developmental biology↗