title: Multiple Hox/HOM-class homeoboxes in Platyhelminthes.
abstract: The importance of the Hox/HOM class of homeobox genes in early anterior-posterior pattern formation and the conserved genomic organization of this gene family provides an interesting study in genome evolution. The Platyhelminthes (flatworms) are a basal metazoan group with a simple bilateral body plan. We used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect Hox/HOM-class homeobox genes from species representing two classes of flatworms. Seven planarian and five trematode Hox/HOM-class homeoboxes were found. The sequences of the genes are consistent with the presence of one Hox/HOM-type cluster in the flatworms. Further analysis of this putative cluster may be expected to provide outgroup information for studying the evolution of the Hox/HOM clusters in the higher metazoa.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bartels
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Murtha
authors.forename: F H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Ruddle
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D005801:Genes, Homeobox; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010986:Platyhelminths / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D004247:DNA