PUBLICATION
The evolution of the vertebrate Dlx gene family
- Authors
- Stock, D.W., Ellies, D.L., Zhao, Z.Y., Ekker, M., Ruddle, F.H., and Weiss, K.M.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-961107-7
- Date
- 1996
- Source
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 93(20): 10858-10863 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Ekker, Marc, Ruddle, Frank H., Stock, David W.
- Keywords
- homeobox; zebrafish; gene duplication; Hox cluster; transcription factor
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Base Sequence
- Biological Evolution
- Cloning, Molecular
- DNA-Binding Proteins/genetics*
- Gene Expression
- Genes, Homeobox*
- Genetic Linkage
- Homeodomain Proteins/genetics*
- Mice/genetics*
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Multigene Family
- Phylogeny
- Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
- Terminology as Topic
- Transcription Factors/genetics*
- Zebrafish/genetics*
- Zebrafish Proteins*
- PubMed
- 8855272 Full text @ Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
Citation
Stock, D.W., Ellies, D.L., Zhao, Z.Y., Ekker, M., Ruddle, F.H., and Weiss, K.M. (1996) The evolution of the vertebrate Dlx gene family. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 93(20):10858-10863.
Abstract
The vertebrate Dlx gene family consists of homeobox-containing transcription factors distributed in pairs on the same chromosomes as the Hox genes. To investigate the evolutionary history of Dlx genes, we have cloned five new zebrafish family members and have provided additional sequence information for two mouse genes. Phylogenetic analyses of Dlx gene sequences considered in the context of their chromosomal arrangements suggest that an initial tandem duplication produced a linked pair of Dlx genes after the divergence of chordates and arthropods but prior to the divergence of tunicates and vertebrates. This pair of Dlx genes was then duplicated in the chromosomal events that led to the four clusters of Hox genes characteristic of bony fish and tetrapods. It is possible that a pair of Dlx genes linked to the Hoxc cluster has been lost from mammals. We were unable to distinguish between independent duplication and retention of the ancestral state of bony vertebrates to explain the presence of a greater number of Dlx genes in zebrafish than mammals. Determination of the linkage relationship of these additional zebrafish Dlx genes to Hox clusters should help resolve this issue.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping