Apoptosis in Amphioxus

Abstract This chapter introduces the putative apoptosis mechanism in amphioxus. It starts by presenting general information about apoptosis in mammals. It then introduces the apoptosis-related genes in amphioxus, including Apaf-1 and Bcl2 homolog, the caspase family, and the TRAIL-DR apoptosis-related genes. DFD shuffling is discussed to shed lights on the emergence of extrinsic apoptosis in basal chordates. At the end of the chapter, it is postulated that the expanded DFD genes may involve two interfaces in regulating amphioxus apoptosis and pattern recognition systems.