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@ARTICLE{TreeBASE2Ref18771, author = {Yvonne Valles and Vincent Giani and Sung-Jin Cho and Elaine Seaver and David A. Weisblat}, title = {Evolutionary dynamics of the Wnt gene family: a lophotrochozoan perspective.}, year = {2010}, keywords = {Wnt family genes, Lophotrochozoan genomes, gene duplication and diversification, annelid, leech, polychaete}, doi = {10.1093/molbev/msq052}, url = {}, pmid = {}, journal = {Molecular Biology and Evolution}, volume = {}, number = {}, pages = {}, abstract = {The Wnt gene family encodes a set of secreted glycoproteins involved in key developmental processes, including cell fate specification and regulation of posterior growth (Cadigan and Nusse 1997; Martin and Kimelman 2009). As for many other gene families, evidence for expansion and/or contraction of the wnt family is available from deuterostomes [e.g. echinoderms and vertebrates (Nusse and Varmus 1992; Schubert et al. 2000; Croce et al. 2006)] and ecdysozoans [e.g. arthropods and nematodes (Eisenmann 2005; Bolognesi et al. 2008)], but little is known from the third major bilaterian group, the lophotrochozoans [e.g. mollusks and annelids (Prud'homme et al. 2002)]. To obtain a more comprehensive scenario of the evolutionary dynamics of this gene family, we exhaustively mined wnt gene sequences from the whole genome assemblies of a mollusk (Lottia gigantea) and two annelids (Capitella teleta and Helobdella robusta), and examined them by phylogenetic, genetic linkage, intron-exon structure and embryonic expression analyses. The 36 wnt genes obtained represent 11, 12 and 9 distinct wnt subfamilies in Lottia, Capitella and Helobdella respectively. The genome of the leech Helobdella reflects significantly more dynamism than those of Lottia and Capitella, as judged by gene duplications and losses, branch length and changes in genetic linkage. Finally, comparisons of the embryonic expression patterns of the duplicated wnt genes in Helobdella with their orthologs in Capitella reveal extensive regulatory diversification of the duplicated leech wnt genes. Furthermore, the conservation of the wnt subfamilies across metazoans emphasizes the importance and complexity of this gene family (Logan and Nusse 2004; Martin and Kimelman 2009). } }