Cristian Cañestro
Research Associate

Institute of Neuroscience
1254 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1254 USA
Phone: 541-346-4495 / Fax 541-346-4548
Research Associate

Research interest

My main research turns around the evolution of chordate development and the understanding of what molecular genetic mechanisms have allowed the acquisition of distinguishing vertebrate characters, particularly, the complex Central Nervous System, Placodes and Neural Crest cells. Among the different molecular mechanisms, I am specially interested in understanding the evolution of the role of retinoic acid signaling in deuterostomes, and how this can relate to the origin of chordate innovations. My research integrates Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Developmental Biology, and includes the study of zebrafish, amphioxus, ascidians, and Oikopleura dioica as animal models representing the diversity of our own phylum, the chordates.

Developmental signaling by retinoic acid (RA) is thought to be an innovation essential for the origin of the chordate body plan. Our work, however, has recently shown the presence of the RA genetic machinery in non-chordate deuterostomes (Cañestro et al., 2006).
On the other hand, the larvacean urochordate Oikopleura dioica maintains a chordate body plan throughout life, and yet its genome appears to lack genes for RA synthesis, degradation, and reception (Aldh1a1, Cyp26 and Rar). This suggests the hypothesis that the RA-machinery was lost during larvacean evolution, and predicts that Oikopleura development has become independent of RA-signaling. This prediction raises the problem that the anterior-posterior organization of a chordate body plan can be developed without the classical morphogenetic role of RA. To address this problem, we performed pharmacological treatments and analyses of developmental molecular markers to investigate whether RA acts in anterior-posterior axial patterning in Oikopleura embryos. Results revealed that RA does not cause homeotic posteriorization in Oikopleura as it does in vertebrates and cephalochordates, and showed that a chordate can develop the phylotypic body plan in the absence of the classical morphogenetic role of RA. A comparison of Oikopleura and ascidian evidence suggests that the lack of RA-induced homeotic posteriorization is a shared derived feature of urochordates. We discuss possible relationships of altered roles of RA in urochordate development to genomic events, such as rupture of the Hox-cluster, in the context of a new understanding of chordate phylogeny.

Cañestro C. and JH. Postlethwait (2007) Dev Biol 305(2):522-38

Featured in News and Views in Nature (2007) Vol. 447 (7141):153

Review

Nature Reviews Genetics 8, 932-942 (December 2007) | doi:10.1038/nrg2226

FOCUS ON: Evo–devo

Evolutionary developmental biology and genomics

Cristian Cañestro, Hayato Yokoi & John H. Postlethwait

Summary

* Evolutionary developmental biology faces reciprocal paradoxes: the conservation of similar developmental genetic toolkits despite a diversity of life forms, and the inverse paradox — the development of similar morphologies despite the phylogenetically variable presence of the genetic tools that are thought to be responsible for those forms.

* Phylogenomic analysis, when carried out with care for possible pitfalls, can indicate the orientation of trait gain and loss among diverging lineages.

* Comparative genomic analysis correlated to the loss of an ancestral trait can identify candidate genes that are responsible for the development of that trait.

* Genome contractions in various lineages have diminished genetic toolkits for DNA methylation and for retinoic acid signalling, providing examples of the inverse paradox. It is thought that changes in genome architecture might have disrupted regulatory mechanisms that depend on chromosome territories or long-range enhancers, which would have decreased the importance of genome methylation and patterning by distantly diffusible signals in some animals with determinative development and rapid life cycles.

* Genome expansion, for example, by whole-genome duplication events, can result in the complementary degeneration of gene subfunctions leading to the reduction of pleiotropy and subsequent evolution of toolkit components that are specialized for precise developmental functions, as illustrated by fibroblast growth factor (Fgf) family genes.

* Genome architecture can, in some cases, be related to conserved non-coding elements that act as enhancers located far from the genes they encode; fitness penalties for disrupting these relationships can explain certain human developmental diseases and syntenies that have been conserved over evolutionary time.

* These examples show that genomics bridges the gap between evolutionary biology and developmental biology.

New view of chordate phylogeny, alteration of Retinoic Acid for anteroposterior axial patterning, and Hox-cluster disintegration: a model.

Publications

Click on the icon at right to download a reprint. Click on the author's names to go to Pubmed, or click the journal's name to go to the journal's website. For my latest pubmed click here:
Cañestro C, Catchen J, Rodriguez-Marí A, Yokoi H, Postlethwait JH (2009) Consequences of Lineage-specific Gene Loss on Functional Evolution of Surviving Paralogs: ALDH1A and Retinoic Acid Signaling in Vertebrate Genomes. PLoS Genetics (5(5): e1000496. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1000496).
Jovelin R, Yan YL, He X, Catchen J, Amores A, Cañestro C, Yokoi H, Postlethwait JH (2009) Evolution of developmental regulation in the vertebrate FgfD subfamily. Journal Exprimental Zoology Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution. 312B DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.21307
TitusT.A,, Y.L. Yan, C. Wilson, A.M. Starks, J.D. Frohnmayer, C. Cañestro, A. Rodriguez-Mari, X. He and J.H. Postlethwait (2009) The Fanconi anemia/BRCA gene network in zebrafish: Embryonic expression and comparative genomics. Mutation Research: PMID: 19101574
Albalat R. and C. Cañestro (2009). Identification of Aldh1a, Cyp26 and RAR orthologs in protostomes pushes back the retinoic acid genetic machinery in evolutionary time to the bilaterian ancestor Chem Biol Interact 178(1-3):188-96.
Bassham* S., *Cañestro C., and J. H. Postlethwait, (2008) Evolution of developmental roles of Pax2/5/8 paralogs after independent duplication in urochordate and vertebrate lineages. BMC Biology** 6:35
*Cañestro C*.,Bassham S., and Postlethwait, J. H. (2008) Evolution of the thyroid: Anterior-posterior regionalization of the Oikopleura endostyle revealed by Otx, Pax2/5/8, and Hox1 expression. Developmental Dynamics 237 (5):1490-1499 This paper is higlighted by Julie C. Kiefer editor in chief of Developmental Dynamics 237 (11):3099-3452 (PDF)
Cañestro C., Yokoi H. and JH. Postlethwait. (2007) Evolutionary Developmental Biology and Genomics. *Nature Review Genetics* 8(12):932-942
Cañestro C. and JH. Postlethwait. (2007) Development of a chordate anterior-posterior axis without classical retinoic acid signaling. Dev Biol 305(2):522-38. This paper is featured in News and Views in Nature (2007) Vol. 447 (7141):153. A chordate with a difference, by Linda Holland (PDF) This finding is featured among the contributions to the Int. Euro-chordate meeting 2007 by Sardet et al. Dev. Dyn. (2008) (PDF) This paper has been posted and discussed in the Science Blog Pharyngula by PZ Myers
Cañestro C, Postlethwait, JH., Gonzàlez-Duarte, R. and R. Albalat. (2006). Is Retinoic Acid Genetic Machinery a Chordate Innovation? Evol Dev 8 (5): 394-406. Sup.Mat.
Cañestro C, Bassham S, Postlethwait JH. (2005) Development of the central nervous system in the larvacean Oikopleura dioica and the evolution of the chordate brain. Evolution. Dev Biol 4(3):208 This work was presented in the III Int. Tunicate Meeting in Santa Barbara, CA (2005), and its presentation is featured in Genes & Development (2005) 19:2407-2411. Surfing with the tunicates into the post-genome era, by Nori Satoh and Mike Levine
Rodriguez-Marí A, Y-L. Yan, RA. BreMiller, C. Wilson, C. Cañestro, JH. Postlethwait. (2005) Characterization and expression pattern of zebrafish anti-Müllerian hormone (amh) relative to sox9a, sox9b, and cyp19a1a, during gonad development. Gene Expr Patterns 5(5):655-67.
Cañestro C, Albalat R. and R. Gonzàlez-Duarte. (2003) Isolation and characterization of the first non-autonomous transposable element in amphioxus, ATE-1. Gene 318: 69-73
Albalat R, J Permanyer, C Cañestro, A. Martínez-Mir, O Gonzàlez-Angulo and R Gonzàlez-Duarte. (2003) The first retrotransposon of the non-LTR class from the cephalochordate amphioxus, BfCR1, shows similarities to the CR1-like elements. Cell Mol Life Sci 60(4): 803-9
Cañestro C, Bassham S, Postlethwait JH. (2003) Seeing chordate evolution through the Ciona genome sequence. Genome Biol 4(3):208
Cañestro C., L. Godoy, R. Gonzàlez-Duarte and R. Albalat. (2003) Comparative expression analysis of Adh3 during arthropod, urochordate, cephalochordate and vertebrate development challenges its predicted housekeeping role. Evol Dev 5(2):157-62
Cañestro C., R. Gonzàlez-Duarte and R. Albalat. (2002) Minisatellite instability at the Adh locus reveals somatic polymorphism in amphioxus Nucleic Acid Res 30(13):2871-6
Martínez-Mir A, C. Cañestro, R. Gonzàlez-Duarte and R. Albalat. (2001) Characterization of amphioxus BfPS gene in a high gene-density genomic region reveals novel features of presenilin genes and shows duplication during the vertebrate lineage. Gene 279: 157-164
Cañestro C., R. Albalat, L. Hjelmqvist, L. Godoy, H. Jörnvall and R. Gonzàlez-Duarte. (2001) Ascidian and amphioxus Adh genes integrate functional and molecular evolution of the ADH family expansion during vertebrate evolution. J Mol Evol 54(1):81-9
Dalfó D, C. Cañestro, R. Albalat, R. Gonzàlez-Duarte (2001) Characterization of a microsomal retinol dehydrogenase gene from amphioxus: retinoid metabolism before vertebrates. Enzymology and Molecular Biology of Carbonyl Metabolism: 359-370. Edited by Henry Weiner. Elsevier Science.
Cañestro C., R. Albalat, H. Escrivà and R. Gonzàlez-Duarte. (2001) Endogenous ß-galactosidase activity in amphioxus: a useful histochemical marker for the digestive system. Dev Genes Evol 211:154-156.
Dalfó D, C.Cañestro, R. Albalat, R. Gonzàlez-Duarte. (2001) Characterization of a microsomal retinol dehydrogenase gene from amphioxus: retinoid metabolism before vertebrates. Chem Biol Interact 130:359-370.
Cañestro C., Hjelmqvist L, Albalat R, Garcia-Fernàndez J, Gonzàlez-Duarte R, Jörnvall H. (2000) Amphioxus alcohol dehydrogenase is a class 3 form of single type and of structural conservation but with unique developmental expression. Eur J Biochem 267:6511-6518.

LINKS:

The 5th International Tunicate Meeting, June 21-25th 2009, Okinawa (Japan), organized by Nori Satoh (OIST), Hiroki Nishida (Osaka Univ), Euichi Hirose (Univ of the Ryukyus). Program link (Download Poster jpg)

Oikopleura's Oregon Group (Sponsored by National Science Foundation NSF)
IGERT: Evolution Development and Genomics

LINKS to TEACHING CLASSES

Department of Biology (University of Oregon): Evolution and Development Bi480 (2008): Chordate evolution: retinoic acid, Hox-cluster disruption, and urochordate divergence: an example of the inverse paradox in evo-devo.

NSF Program to integrate Science into the Society. This class was about the importance of “Oikopleura’s role in Carbon recycling in the oceans and Global Warming”, in the summer camp program of the Science Factory (July 2007, Eugene, OR, USA).

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