Morphological characteristics of beak-like tooth in spotted knifejaw (Oplegnathus punctatus) and mechanisms of dental development regulation by the Wnt, BMP, FGF and SHH signalling pathways

Yuting Ma; Yongshuang Xiao; Zhizhong Xiao; Jun Li

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.126188

Morphological characteristics of beak-like tooth in spotted knifejaw (Oplegnathus punctatus) and mechanisms of dental development regulation by the Wnt, BMP, FGF and SHH signalling pathways

Int J Biol Macromol. 2023 Oct 1:250:126188. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.126188. Epub 2023 Aug 9.

Authors

Yuting Ma¹, Yongshuang Xiao², Zhizhong Xiao³, Jun Li⁴

Affiliations

¹ CAS and Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China; Key Laboratory of Breeding Biotechnology and Sustainable Aquaculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: mayuting@qdio.ac.cn.
² CAS and Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China; Key Laboratory of Breeding Biotechnology and Sustainable Aquaculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: yongshuangxiao@qdio.ac.cn.
³ CAS and Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China; Key Laboratory of Breeding Biotechnology and Sustainable Aquaculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: xzz@qdio.ac.cn.
⁴ CAS and Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China; Key Laboratory of Breeding Biotechnology and Sustainable Aquaculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: junli@qdio.ac.cn.

PMID: 37562479
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.126188

Abstract

Oplegnathus punctatus is a fish species with beak-like tooth that feeds on algae, oysters, sea urchins, and other organisms attached to rocks. Currently, there are no research reports on the development and regulatory mechanisms of O. punctatus beak-like tooth. This present study firstly elucidated the nesting structure pattern of the beak-like tooth with dental formula (4, 15-16, 10-1) for O. punctatus. Four critical periods during early beak-like tooth development (28dph, 40dph, 50dph, 60dph) were also identified. In addition, 11 key genes (bmp2, bmpr2, smad1, wnt5a, msx, axin2, fgfr1a, fgfr2, pitx2, ptch1, cyp27a1) closely related to the development of beak-like tooth were discovered, with the highest expression levels in the initial stages of functional teeth and replacement teeth development, and expression in the mesenchymal and epithelial tissues of the teeth. Further research found that the cyp27a1 gene, related to vitamin D metabolism and calcium accumulation, was expressed in the maxilla and base of the tooth in O. punctatus. This study provides support for the biological theory of tooth development and healing and provides a reference for the adaptive evolution of tooth healing in special habitats.

Keywords: BMP; Beak-like tooth; Mesenchymal cells; Oplegnathus punctatus; Tooth development; Vitamin D metabolism.