Organization of the Hox gene cluster in the grasshopper, Schistocerca gregaria.
The conserved organization of the Hox genes throughout the animal kingdom has become one of the major paradigms of evolutionary developmental biology. We have examined the organization of the Hox genes of the grasshopper, Schistocerca gregaria. We find that the grasshopper Hox cluster is over 700 kb long, and is not split into equivalents of the Antennapedia complex and the bithorax complex of Drosophila melanogaster. SgDax and probably also Sgzen, the grasshopper homologues of fushi-tarazu (ftz) and Zerknüllt (zen), respectively, are also in the cluster, showing that the non-homeotic Antp-class genes, "accessory genes," are an ancient feature of insect Hox clusters.
Ferrier
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DE
Wellcome/Cancer Research Campaign Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom, dekf1@mole.bio.cam.ac.uk
Akam
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D000818:Animals; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D051717:Fushi Tarazu Transcription Factors; D005801:Genes, Homeobox; D017344:Genes, Insect; D006110:Grasshoppers / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D005810:Multigene Family; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015183:Restriction Mapping
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D051717:Fushi Tarazu Transcription Factors; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; C085607:Zen protein, Drosophila; C497169:ftz protein, Drosophila