Expression of a Hox gene, Cnox-2, and the division of labor in a colonial hydroid.
We report the isolation and expression of the Hox gene, Cnox-2, in Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus, a hydrozoan displaying division of labor. We found different patterns of aboral-to-oral Cnox-2 expression among polyp polymorphs, and we show that experimental conversion of one polyp type to another is accompanied by concordant alteration in Cnox-2 expression. Our results are consistent with the suggestion that polyp polymorphism, characteristic of hydractiniid hydroids, arose via evolutionary modification of proportioning of head to body column.
Cartwright
P
P
Department of Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. pcart@eagle.cc.ukans.edu
Bowsher
J
J
Buss
L W
LW
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies; D005801:Genes, Homeobox; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D006829:Hydra / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D015800:Protozoan Proteins
D000906:Antibodies; C118123:Cnox-2 protein, Hydractinia symbiolongicarpu; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins