The Ancient Origins of Neural Substrates for Land Walking
© 2018 Elsevier Inc. Walking is the predominant locomotor behavior expressed by land-dwelling vertebrates, but it is unknown when the neural circuits that are essential for limb control first appeared. Certain fish species display walking-like behaviors, raising the possibility that the underlying c...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Cell Press
2018
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/66315 |
| _version_ | 1848761292874055680 |
|---|---|
| author | Jung, H. Baek, M. D'Elia, K. Boisvert, Catherine Currie, P. Tay, B. Venkatesh, B. Brown, S. Heguy, A. Schoppik, D. Dasen, J. |
| author_facet | Jung, H. Baek, M. D'Elia, K. Boisvert, Catherine Currie, P. Tay, B. Venkatesh, B. Brown, S. Heguy, A. Schoppik, D. Dasen, J. |
| author_sort | Jung, H. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © 2018 Elsevier Inc. Walking is the predominant locomotor behavior expressed by land-dwelling vertebrates, but it is unknown when the neural circuits that are essential for limb control first appeared. Certain fish species display walking-like behaviors, raising the possibility that the underlying circuitry originated in primitive marine vertebrates. We show that the neural substrates of bipedalism are present in the little skate Leucoraja erinacea, whose common ancestor with tetrapods existed ~420 million years ago. Leucoraja exhibits core features of tetrapod locomotor gaits, including left-right alternation and reciprocal extension-flexion of the pelvic fins. Leucoraja also deploys a remarkably conserved Hox transcription factor-dependent program that is essential for selective innervation of fin/limb muscle. This network encodes peripheral connectivity modules that are distinct from those used in axial muscle-based swimming and has apparently been diminished in most modern fish. These findings indicate that the circuits that are essential for walking evolved through adaptation of a genetic regulatory network shared by all vertebrates with paired appendages. Video Abstract: The circuits involved in limb control were established in the common ancestor to all vertebrates with pair appendages millions of years before the first tetrapod walked on land. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:29:22Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-66315 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:29:22Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Cell Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-663152018-12-14T00:57:19Z The Ancient Origins of Neural Substrates for Land Walking Jung, H. Baek, M. D'Elia, K. Boisvert, Catherine Currie, P. Tay, B. Venkatesh, B. Brown, S. Heguy, A. Schoppik, D. Dasen, J. © 2018 Elsevier Inc. Walking is the predominant locomotor behavior expressed by land-dwelling vertebrates, but it is unknown when the neural circuits that are essential for limb control first appeared. Certain fish species display walking-like behaviors, raising the possibility that the underlying circuitry originated in primitive marine vertebrates. We show that the neural substrates of bipedalism are present in the little skate Leucoraja erinacea, whose common ancestor with tetrapods existed ~420 million years ago. Leucoraja exhibits core features of tetrapod locomotor gaits, including left-right alternation and reciprocal extension-flexion of the pelvic fins. Leucoraja also deploys a remarkably conserved Hox transcription factor-dependent program that is essential for selective innervation of fin/limb muscle. This network encodes peripheral connectivity modules that are distinct from those used in axial muscle-based swimming and has apparently been diminished in most modern fish. These findings indicate that the circuits that are essential for walking evolved through adaptation of a genetic regulatory network shared by all vertebrates with paired appendages. Video Abstract: The circuits involved in limb control were established in the common ancestor to all vertebrates with pair appendages millions of years before the first tetrapod walked on land. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/66315 10.1016/j.cell.2018.01.013 Cell Press restricted |
| spellingShingle | Jung, H. Baek, M. D'Elia, K. Boisvert, Catherine Currie, P. Tay, B. Venkatesh, B. Brown, S. Heguy, A. Schoppik, D. Dasen, J. The Ancient Origins of Neural Substrates for Land Walking |
| title | The Ancient Origins of Neural Substrates for Land Walking |
| title_full | The Ancient Origins of Neural Substrates for Land Walking |
| title_fullStr | The Ancient Origins of Neural Substrates for Land Walking |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Ancient Origins of Neural Substrates for Land Walking |
| title_short | The Ancient Origins of Neural Substrates for Land Walking |
| title_sort | ancient origins of neural substrates for land walking |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/66315 |