Quantitative assessment of Hox complex expression in the indirect development of the polychaete annelid Chaetopterus sp.

ABSTRACT: A prediction from the set-aside theory of bilaterian origins is that pattern formation processes such as those controlled by the Hox cluster genes are required specifically for adult body plan formation. This prediction can be tested in animals that use maximal indirect development, in which the embryonic formation of the larva and the postembryonic formation of the adult body plan are temporally and spatially distinct. To this end, we quantitatively measured the amount of transcripts for five Hox genes in embryos of a lophotrochozoan, the polychaete annelid Chaetopterus sp. The polychaete Hox complex is shown not to be expressed during embryogenesis, but transcripts of all measured Hox complex genes are detected at significant levels during the initial stages of adult body plan formation.

SUBMITTER: Peterson KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC18261 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature