title: Homeobox genes in the ribbonworm Lineus sanguineus: evolutionary implications.
abstract: From our current understanding of the genetic basis of development and pattern formation in Drosophila and vertebrates it is commonly thought that clusters of Hox genes sculpt the morphology of animals in specific body regions. Based on Hox gene conservation throughout the animal kingdom it is proposed that these genes and their role in pattern formation evolved early during the evolution of metazoans. Knowledge of the history of Hox genes will lead to a better understanding of the role of Hox genes in the evolution of animal body plans. To infer Hox gene evolution, reliable data on lower chordates and invertebrates are crucial. Among the lower triploblasts, the body plan of the ribbonworm Lineus (nemertini) appears to be close to the common ancestral condition of protostomes and deuterostomes. In this paper we present the isolation and identification of Hox genes in Lineus sanguineus. We find that the Lineus genome contains a single cluster of at least six Hox genes: two anterior-class genes, three middle-class genes, and one posterior-class gene. Each of the genes can be definitely assigned to an ortholog group on the basis of its homeobox and its flanking sequences. The most closely related homeodomain sequences are invariably found among the mouse or Amphioxus orthologs, rather than Drosophila and other invertebrates. This suggests that the ribbonworms have diverged relatively little from the last common ancestors of protostomes and deuterostomes, the urbilateria.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, F-51687 Reims, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kmita-Cunisse
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Loosli
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bièrne
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Gehring
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000235:genetics; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005801:Genes, Homeobox; D015698:Genomic Library; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D018398:Homeodomain Proteins