The cnidarian-bilaterian ancestor possessed at least 56 homeoboxes: evidence from the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Homeodomain transcription factors are key components in the developmental toolkits of animals. While this gene superclass predates the evolutionary split between animals, plants, and fungi, many homeobox genes appear unique to animals. The origin of particular homeobox genes may, therefore, be associated with the evolution of particular animal traits. Here we report the first near-complete set of homeodomains from a basal (diploblastic) animal.

Results

Phylogenetic analyses were performed on 130 homeodomains from the sequenced genome of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis along with 228 homeodomains from human and 97 homeodomains from Drosophila. The Nematostella homeodomains appear to be distributed among established homeodomain classes in the following fashio

SUBMITTER: Ryan JF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1779571 | biostudies-literature | 2006

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature