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A Survey of Homeobox Genes inChaetopterus variopedatusand Analysis of Polychaete Homeodomains

https://doi.org/10.1006/mpev.1997.0407Get rights and content

Abstract

A survey of genomic DNA from the polychaeteChaetopterus variopedatuswas conducted using the polymerase chain reaction. Twelve unique homeobox-containing gene fragments were recovered. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that seven of the fragments are from genes belonging to Hox homeobox classes. Other fragments show orthology with Xlox, caudal, and Prh homeobox classes, with two fragments not definitely assignable to a homeobox class by our analysis. Orthology with gene sequences reported for the polychaeteCtenodrilus serratus,by Dick and Buss (1994), was calculated and indicated that at least eight of theC. variopedatusfragments are homologous to these previously reported sequences. Tabulation of the Hox gene relationships suggest that polychaetes have representative genes of each of the Hox cognate groups exceptAbd-B.This conclusion further suggests that the Hox cluster in the basal protostome ancestor had already undergone the gene duplications leading to the complete complement of homeotic genes known inDrosophila,with the possible loss ofAbd-Bin the polychaete lineage.

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      Hox cluster genes are not conserved in all groups of animals always, the number of Hox clusters and their gene duplications are diverse in different organisms. Just one Hox cluster has been identified in most insects (see the example in Chai et al., 2008; Heffer and Pick, 2013), polychaetes (Heffer and Pick, 2013; Frobius et al., 2008; Irvine et al., 1997), onychophorans (Grenier et al., 1997), sea urchins (Cameron et al., 2006) and chelicerates (Damen, 2010). Vertebrates usually have more Hox clusters, e.g., the two, three or four Hox clusters found in shark (chondrichthyes) (Kim et al., 2000; Oulion et al., 2010), the four in sarcopterygian vertebrates (HoxA–D) (Liang et al., 2011) and the seven or eight in teleosts (Pascual-Anaya et al., 2012; Crow et al., 2006; Hoegg et al., 2007).

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