Xwnt-11: a maternally expressed Xenopus wnt gene.
We have isolated and characterized a novel Xenopus wnt gene, Xwnt-11, whose expression pattern and overexpression phenotype suggest that it may be important for dorsal-ventral axis formation. Xwnt-11 mRNA is present during oogenesis and embryonic development through swimming tadpole stages. Xwnt-11 mRNA is ubiquitous in early oocytes and is localized during mid-oogenesis. By late oocyte stages, Xwnt-11 mRNA is localized to the vegetal cortex, with some mRNA in the vegetal cytoplasm. After egg maturation, Xwnt-11 mRNA is released from the vegetal cortex and is found in the vegetal cytoplasm. This early pattern of Xwnt-11 mRNA localization is similar to another vegetally localized maternal mRNA, Vg1 (D. A. Melton (1987) Nature 328, 80-82). In the late blastula, Xwnt-11 mRNA is found at high levels in the dorsal marginal zone. As gastrulation proceeds, Xwnt-11 mRNA appears in the lateral and ventral marginal zone and, during tadpole stages, it is found in the somites and first branchial arch. Injection of Xwnt-11 mRNA into UV-ventralized embryos can substantially rescue the UV defect by inducing the formation of dorsal tissues. The rescued embryos develop somitic muscle and neural tube; however, they lack notochord and anterior head structures.
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Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.
Melton
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D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D004627:Embryonic Induction / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005775:Gastrula / Q000502:physiology*; D005796:Genes / Q000502:physiology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009024:Morphogenesis / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017385:Sequence Homology; D014981:Xenopus / Q000235:genetics*