title: Sequence, organization, and transcription of the Dlx-1 and Dlx-2 locus.
abstract: There are at least five murine Dlx genes that are related to the Drosophila Distal-less homeobox gene. The Dlx genes are primarily expressed in the developing forebrain, derivatives of the cranial neural crest and restricted epidermal craniofacial and limb domains. Dlx-2 is required for differentiation of subsets of cranial neural crest and forebrain cells. Previous genomic studies have shown that Dlx-1 and Dlx-2 are linked on mouse chromosome 2, near the HoxD cluster. Here we report a detailed analysis of the nucleotide sequence (approximately 14 kb), organization, and transcription of the murine Dlx-1 and Dlx-2 locus. In addition, we show that Dlx-1 makes multiple sense transcripts and at least one antisense transcript, whereas Dlx-2 makes one major transcript. The sequence of the human Dlx-2 gene is reported and is compared to that of the murine gene. Finally, sequence analysis of the deduced protein sequences reveals several candidate functional domains.
authors.affiliation: Nina Ireland Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0984, USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: McGuinness
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Porteus
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Smiga
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bulfone
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kingsley
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Rubenstein
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; C088334:Distal-less homeobox proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors