A Cross-Species Analysis of MicroRNAs in the Developing Avian Face

Higher vertebrates use similar genetic tools to derive very different facial features. This diversity is believed to occur through temporal, spatial and species-specific changes in gene expression within cranial neural crest (NC) cells. These contribute to the facial skeleton and contain species-specific information that drives morphological variation. A few signaling molecules and transcription factors are known to play important roles in these processes, but little is known regarding the role of micro-RNAs (miRNAs). We have identified and compared all miRNAs expressed in cranial NC cells from three avian species (chicken, duck, and quail) before and after species-specific facial distinctions occur. We identified 170 differentially expressed miRNAs. These include thirty-five novel chicken orthologs of previously described miRNAs, and six avian-specific miRNAs. Five of these avian-specific miRNAs are conserved over 120 million years of avian evolution, from ratites to galliforms, and their predicted target mRNAs include many components of Wnt signaling. Previous work indicates that mRNA gene expression in NC cells is relatively static during stages when the beak acquires species-specific morphologies. However, miRNA expression is remarkably dynamic within this timeframe, suggesting that the timing of specific developmental transitions is altered in birds with different beak shapes. We evaluated one miRNA:mRNA target pair and found that the cell cycle regulator p27KIP1 is a likely target of miR-222 in frontonasal NC cells, and that the timing of this interaction correlates with the onset of phenotypic variation. Our comparative genomic approach is the first comprehensive analysis of miRNAs in the developing facial primordial, and in species-specific facial development

Electronic Structure of the CdTe(100)-(1×1) Surface

Unreconstructed CdTe(100) surface prepared by ion bombardment and annealing is investigated by angle-resolved photoemission. The experimental band structure E(k$\text{}_{∥}$) is determined along high-symmetry lines of the surface Brillouin zone by measuring energy-distribution curves of photoelectrons. Different criteria were applied to separate surface and bulk related spectral features, e.g. calculating the position of bulk-derived emissions in the frame of the free-electron final state approximation assuming k conservation. In this way, most dispersing features could be explained. All remaining features were compared with theoretical surface band structures for different polar surface terminations which were calculated within a layer doubling procedure on the basis of an EHT-fit to the bulk band structure. The investigated CdTe(100)-(1×1) surface could be identified as Cd terminated. Two surface bands were observed, one located above the valence-band edge and the second in the open pocket of the projected bulk band structure along the Γ̅K̅ direction. At 4.6 eV binding energy an additional weakly dispersing band was found, which contains mixed surface and bulk character. The high density of bulk states associated with this edge of the heteropolar gap is also expected to contribute to this feature