Meeting Abstract

P1.40  Sunday, Jan. 4  Investigating the role of Wnt/PCP signaling in the evolution of embryonic polarity in metazoans WIJESENA, N.*; KUMBUREGAMA, N.S.; WIKRAMANAYAKE, A.; University of Miami; University of Miami; University of Miami naveen@bio.miami.edu

Evolution of mechanisms that established developmental polarity in ancient animal embryos was likely prerequisite for germ layer evolution, but these mechanisms are unknown. Extensive use of Wnt/Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) signaling to generate diverse embryonic polarity events hints that PCP signaling may have had a primitive role in evolution of embryonic polarity. To begin to gain insight into this idea we initiated studies to functionally characterize the core PCP genes in Nematostella vectensis, and identified NvStrabismus as a localized maternal mRNA. Since Strabismus signaling is known to antagonize Wnt/β-catenin signaling in bilaterians, we asked if NvStrabismus has a role in restricting Wnt/β-catenin signaling to endoderm, thereby mediating germ layer segregation. We will present experimental results showing that NvStrabismus signaling modulates Wnt/β-catenin signaling in Nematostella. These findings raise the possibility that interaction between Wnt/β-catenin and Wnt/PCP pathways played a role in establishing the embryonic polarity that led to germ layer segregation.