Control of colinearity in AbdB genes of the mouse HoxD complex.
During development, vertebrate Hox genes are activated in a temporal and spatial sequence colinear with the position of the genes within their clusters. To investigate the mechanistic basis of this phenomenon, we used the ES cell technology and the loxP/Cre system to engineer a conditional fusion of the 5' exon of Hoxd-13 with the 3' exon of Hoxd-12. This hybrid transcription unit was regulated like Hoxd-11, with expression limits in the trunk, limbs, intestinal, and urogenital systems more anterior than those expected for either Hoxd-13 or Hoxd-12. An in vivo interspecies replacement by the fish homologous DNA fragment showed that anteriorization was not due to a distance effect, thus suggesting the presence of a regulatory element between Hoxd-13 and Hoxd-12 that may contribute to the establishment, early on, of a repressive state over these two genes.
Kondo
T
T
Department of Zoology and Animal Biology, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
Zákány
J
J
Duboule
D
D
D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005260:Female; D017353:Gene Deletion; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D005801:Genes, Homeobox / Q000502:physiology*; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D016296:Mutagenesis / Q000502:physiology; D010641:Phenotype; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000502:physiology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D019076:Transgenes / Q000502:physiology; D015027:Zebrafish; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins
C062393:Abd-B proteins, Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C490943:Hoxd12 protein, mouse; C084118:Hoxd13 protein, mouse; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; C099222:hoxd12a protein, zebrafish