Journal article
The evolution of class V POU domain transcription factors in vertebrates and their characterisation in a marsupial
Stephen Frankenberg, Andrew Pask, Marilyn B Renfree
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY | ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE | Published : 2010
Abstract
POU5F1 (OCT4) encodes a master regulator of pluripotency that is present in all mammals. A paralogue, POU2, is also present in the genomes of marsupials and monotremes and is an orthologue of zebrafish pou2 and chicken POUV. We explored the evolution of class V POU domain transcription factors and show that POU5F1 arose by gene duplication of pou2 early in the evolution of tetrapods and is not mammal-specific, as previously thought. Instead, either POU5F1 or POU2/POUV has become extinct independently in various lineages, although all gnathostomes appear to possess at least one or the other. In the tammar wallaby, POU5F1 expression is limited to pluripotent cell types (embryonic tissues and g..
View full abstractGrants
Funding Acknowledgements
This study was supported by an ARC Project grant to M.B. Renfree and AJ. Pask. AJ. Pask was supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council R.D. Wright Fellowship, and MBR was supported by an Australian Research Council Federation Fellowship.