Developmental expression of a class IV POU gene in the gastropod Haliotis asinina supports a conserved role in sensory cell development in bilaterians

POU-IV genes regulate neuronal development in a number of deuterostomes (chordates) and ecdysozoans (arthropods and nematodes). Currently their function and expression in the third bilaterian clade, the Lophotrochozoa, comprising molluscs, annelids and their affiliates, is unclear. Herein we characterise the developmental expression of HasPOU-IV in the gastropod mollusc, Haliotis asinina . The POU-IV gene is transiently expressed in 11 distinct...