A Xenopus mRNA related to Drosophila twist is expressed in response to induction in the mesoderm and the neural crest.
We have cloned a Xenopus cDNA related to the twist gene, which is required for mesodermal differentiation in Drosophila. Northern blots of dissected embryos and in situ hybridization show that the corresponding mRNA, called Xtwi, first appears in early gastrulae, and is present only in mesodermal cells. Within the mesoderm, Xtwi is expressed in the notochord and lateral plate, but not in the myotome; therefore there is a complementary pattern of Xtwi and muscle-specific gene expression in the mesoderm. Xtwi expression therefore marks the subdivision of the mesoderm. Xtwi is also activated a few hours later in the early development of the neural crest. This gene is thus expressed in response to two sequential early inductions in frog development.
Hopwood
N D
ND
Cancer Research Campaign Molecular Embryology Research Group, Department of Zoology, Cambridge, England.
Pluck
A
A
Gurdon
J B
JB
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000502:physiology; D015870:Gene Expression; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000502:physiology*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics*; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1; D014981:Xenopus / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D029867:Xenopus Proteins
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014157:Transcription Factors; C497753:Twi protein, Drosophila; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1; D029867:Xenopus Proteins; C581761:twist basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor 1, Xenopus; D004247:DNA