Spatiotemporal expression of a twist homolog in the leech Helobdella austinensis

Park

Jiménez

et al. 2019

IJMS

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Antistasin, which was originally discovered in the salivary glands of the Mexican leech Haementeria officinalis, was newly isolated from Helobdella austinensis. To confirm the temporal expression of antistasin during embryogenesis, we carried out semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Hau-antistasin1 was uniquely expressed at stage 4 of the cleavage and was strongly expressed in the late stages of organogenesis, as were other antistasin members. In order to confirm the spatial expression of antistasin, we performed fluorescence in situ hybridization in the late stages of organogenesis. The expression of each antistasin in the proboscis showed a similar pattern and varied in expression in the body. In addition, the spatial expression of antistasin orthologs in different leeches showed the possibility of different function across leech species. Hau-antistasin1 was expressed in the same region as hedgehog, which is a known mediator of signal transduction pathway. Hau-antistasin1 is probably a downstream target of Hedgehog signaling, involved in segment polarity signal pathway.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal Expression of Anticoagulation Factor Antistasin in Freshwater Leeches

Park

Jiménez

et al. 2019

IJMS

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“…The synthesized RNA probes were applied to each sample at a final concentration of 2 ng/μl, and the probe labeled samples were incubated with Anti-Digoxigenin-POD Fab fragments produced in sheep (Roche, Basel, Switzerland) in diluted blocking solution (1:1000). The detail procedure of in situ hybridization was followed using previously published methods 54 , 65 , 66 . After cryosection, stored samples were dried to remove residual moisture.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral variation according to feeding organ diversification in glossiphoniid leeches (Phylum: Annelida)

Kim

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Adaptive radiation is a phenomenon in which various organs are diversified morphologically or functionally as animals adapt to environmental inputs. Leeches exhibit a variety of ingestion behaviors and morphologically diverse ingestion organs. In this study, we investigated the correlation between behavioral pattern and feeding organ structure of leech species. Among them, we found that Alboglossiphonia sp. swallows prey whole using its proboscis, whereas other leeches exhibit typical fluid-sucking behavior. To address whether the different feeding behaviors are intrinsic, we investigated the behavioral patterns and muscle arrangements in the earlier developmental stage of glossiphoniid leeches. Juvenile Glossiphoniidae including the Alboglossiphonia sp. exhibit the fluid ingestion behavior and have the proboscis with the compartmentalized muscle layers. This study provides the characteristics of leeches with specific ingestion behaviors, and a comparison of structural differences that serves as the first evidence of the proboscis diversification.

“…Dioxigenin-labeled RNA probes were synthesized from the cloned fragments. The in situ hybridization of sections was performed using previously published methods [38,49,50]. After cryosection, stored samples were dried to remove residual moisture.…”

Section: St-mhc Gene Identi Cation Probe Synthesis and In Situ Hybrimentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversification of Leech Proboscis Structure According to Prey Ingestion Behavior

Kim

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background Adaptive radiation is a phenomenon in which various organs, depending on their diet and circumstance, are diversified morphologically or functionally as animals adapt to the environment. Although previous studies on changes caused by various external pressures have been well studied, the evidence for variation in invertebrates is not well known. We used freshwater leeches as an invertebrate model to observe their specific trophic niche and diversity of ingestion organ. Our results show convergent evolution according to structural changes through a representative species Alboglossiphonia sp., and the origin from common ancestor due to the remaining fluid ingestion behavior of the larval stages as a vestige.Results We identified the feeding behavior of rhynchobdellid leeches, which have the proboscis. Alboglossiphonia sp. swallows the entire prey using its proboscis, whereas proboscis leeches exhibit typical fluid-sucking behavior. We observed that proboscis of fluid-sucking leeches encompasses compartmentalized and dense muscle layers. In contrast, macrophagous leeches have relatively simple esophagus structures. To address whether the different feeding behaviors were intrinsic, we investigated the behavioral pattern and muscle arrangement in the earlier developmental stage of rhynchobdellid leeches. Interestingly, juveniles of the macrophagous leech as well as fluid-sucking leeches have the proboscis with the compartmentalized muscle layers and exhibit fluid-sucking behaviorsConclusions Animals have adapted various ways to obtain the energy needed for their survival. Diversification and evolution of ingestion methods across species further exhibit the functional morphology of the ingestion organ. However, information on ingestion behavior and internal structure is still lack and unclear, especially in invertebrate models. Our results suggest that the proboscis leeches have originated from the common fluid-sucking glossiphoniid ancestor and species diversification has led to modifications in the structure of the feeding tube. Together, leeches represent a comparative model for esophagus development according to the ingestion pattern based on diverse muscular arrangement in proboscis.