Abstract
The homeo box is a 180 bp protein-coding domain found within homeotic genes of Drosophila and conserved in a variety of invertebrate and vertebrate species. It has been suggested that the mammalian homeo box sequences may play a role in controlling pattern formation during embryogenesis. We report findings that support this hypothesis. We have cloned three overlapping recombinant phage clones that cover a region of mouse chromosome 11 that contains a cluster of four homeo boxes (the Hox-2 locus). This locus encodes multiple transcripts that are expressed during embryogenesis. Forty kilobases of the Hox-2 region is devoid of repetitive elements and shows extensive homology with the human Hox-2 locus. These results provide direct evidence for genetic expression during embryogenic development, a conserved organization in comparison to the cognate human locus, and a complexity of organization and transcript expression similar to that found in Drosophila.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 9-18 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Cell |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 1985 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We would like to thank Alan McClelland for DNA sequencing advice and assistance. We would also like to thank Maria Pafka for her photographic expertise and Marie Siniscalchi for typing the manuscript. These studies were funded by a grant from the Research Development Program of the American Cancer Society and GM09966. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.