Molecular conservation of marsupial and eutherian placentation and lactation

• Published in: eLife Vol. 6
• Main Authors: Guernsey, Michael W, Chuong, Edward B, Cornelis, Guillaume, Renfree, Marilyn B, Baker, Julie C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England eLife Science Publications, Ltd 12-09-2017; eLife Sciences Publications Ltd; eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
• Subjects: Animals; Biological Evolution; Breastfeeding & lactation; Developmental Biology and Stem Cells; Embryogenesis; Ethanol; Eutheria - genetics; Female; Fetuses; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Genomics and Evolutionary Biology; Immunoglobulins; Lactation; Lactation - genetics; Mammary gland; Mammary Glands, Animal - metabolism; marsupial; Marsupials; Mice; Milk; Morphogenesis; Morphology; Nutrient transport; Physiological aspects; Placenta; Placenta - metabolism; Placentation - genetics; Pregnancy; reproduction; tammar wallaby; transcriptomics; stem cells; evolutionary biology; developmental biology; lactation; tammar wallaby; transcriptomics; genomics; placenta; marsupial; reproduction
• ISSN: 2050-084X; 2050-084X
• DOI: 10.7554/eLife.27450

Eutherians are often mistakenly termed 'placental mammals', but marsupials also have a placenta to mediate early embryonic development. Lactation is necessary for both infant and fetal development in eutherians and marsupials, although marsupials have a far more complex milk repertoire that facilitates morphogenesis of developmentally immature young. In this study, we demonstrate that the anatomically simple tammar placenta expresses a dynamic molecular program that is reminiscent of eutherian placentation, including both fetal and maternal signals. Further, we provide evidence that genes facilitating fetal development and nutrient transport display convergent co-option by placental and mammary gland cell types to optimize offspring success.