PUBLICATION

Regulation of Dlx gene expression in the zebrafish pharyngeal arches: from conserved enhancer sequences to conserved activity

Authors
MacDonald, R. B., Debiais-Thibaud, M., Ekker, M.
ID
ZDB-PUB-160310-19
Date
2010
Source
Zeitschrift fur angewandte Ichthyologie = Journal of applied ichthyology   26(2): 187-191 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Debiais-Thibaud, Mélanie, Ekker, Marc, MacDonald, Ryan
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
none
PubMed
none Full text @ Zeitschrift Angew. Ichthyol. (J. Appl. Ichtyol.)
Abstract
The Dlx genes play an important role in the development of the pharyngeal arches and the structures derived from these tissues, including the craniofacial skeleton. They are typically expressed in a nested pattern along the proximo-distal axis of the branchial arches in mice. This pattern is known as the “Dlx code” and has been proposed to be responsible for an early regional patterning of branchial arches in mammals. A number of cis- regulatory elements (CREs) have been identified within the Dlx loci, which target reporter expression to the developing pharyngeal arches of the mouse. Most of these CREs are located in the intergenic regions between the two genes constituting a Dlx bigene cluster. Therefore, the regionalized dlxexpression in the branchial arches could be the result of the shared activities of these regulatory regions. Here we analyze previously published and new results showing these CREs are highly conserved in both their sequence and their activity in the pharyngeal arches of two distantly related vertebrates, the zebrafish and the mouse. A better understanding of Dlx gene regulation of the Dlx genes and of the genetic cascades in which they are involved can lead to clues explaining variations in morphology of the craniofacial regions of vertebrates.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping