Nodal paralogues underlie distinct mechanisms for visceral left–right asymmetry in reptiles and mammals

Unidirectional fluid flow generated by motile cilia at the left–right organizer (LRO) breaks left–right (L–R) symmetry during early embryogenesis in mouse, frog and zebrafish. The chick embryo, however, does not require motile cilia for L–R symmetry breaking. The diversity of mechanisms for L–R symmetry breaking among vertebrates and the trigger for such symmetry breaking in non-mammalian amniotes have remained unknown. Here we examined how L–R asymmetry is established in two reptiles, Madagascar ground gecko and Chinese softshell turtle. Both of these reptiles appear to lack motile cilia at the LRO. The expression of the Nodal gene at the LRO in the reptilian embryos was found to be asymmetric, in contrast to that in vertebrates such as mouse that are dependent on cilia for L–R patterning. Two paralogues of the Nodal gene derived from an ancient gene duplication are retained and expressed differentially in cilia-dependent and cilia-independent vertebrates. The expression of these two Nodal paralogues is similarly controlled in the lateral plate mesoderm but regulated differently at the LRO. Our in-depth analysis of reptilian embryos thus suggests that mammals and non-mammalian amniotes deploy distinct strategies dependent on different Nodal paralogues for rendering Nodal activity asymmetric at the LRO.