Unusual Gene Order and Organization of the Sea Urchin HoxCluster
The highly consistent gene order and axial colinear expression patterns found in vertebrate hox gene clusters are less well conserved across the rest of bilaterians. We report the first deuterostome instance of an intact hox cluster with a unique gene order where the paralog groups are not expressed in a sequential manner. The finished sequence from BAC clones from the genome of the sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, reveals a gene order wherein the anterior genes (Hox1, Hox2 and Hox3) lie nearest the posterior genes in the cluster such that the most 3' gene is Hox5. (The gene order is : 5'-Hox1,2, 3, 11/13c, 11/13b, '11/13a, 9/10, 8, 7, 6, 5 - 3)'. The finished sequence result is corroborated by restriction mapping evidence and BAC-end scaffold analyses. Comparisons with a putative ancestral deuterostome Hox gene cluster suggest that the rearrangements leading to the sea urchin gene order were many and complex.
- Research Organization:
- Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley NationalLaboratory, Berkeley, CA (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Director. Office of Science. Office of Biological andEnvironmental Research, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, LosAlamos National Laboratory; National Institutes of Health Grant HD05753,National Science Foundation Grant IBN9604454; California Institute ofTechnology
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 878704
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL--57898; BnR: KP1103010
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Experimental Zoology, Journal Name: Journal of Experimental Zoology Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 306B; ISSN 0022-104X; ISSN JEZOAO
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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