title: Evolutionary conservation of gene structures of the Pax1/9 gene family.
abstract: Based on amino acid sequence comparisons, Pax1 and Pax9 genes are considered to form a subgroup of vertebrate Pax genes. We show here that the gene structures of mouse Pax1, human PAX9 genes are similar to that of a single Pax1/9 related gene in Branchiostoma lanceolatum, AmphiPax1. This supports the hypothesis that Pax1 and Pax9 genes were derived from a single ancestral gene. A refined protein alignment of AmphiPax1, mouse Pax1 and human PAX9 proteins based on the determined exon boundaries indicates that sequence divergence at the C-termini may be related to the unique functions of the Pax1 and Pax9 genes in vertebrates. AmphiPax1 is expressed in adult amphioxus in the pharyngeal endoderm.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Immunology, Max-Planck-Institute for Immunobiology, Stuebeweg 51, D-79108, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hetzer-Egger
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schorpp
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Boehm
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002816:Chordata, Nonvertebrate / Q000235:genetics*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016678:Genome; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D051764:PAX9 Transcription Factor; D051761:Paired Box Transcription Factors; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D051764:PAX9 Transcription Factor; C497323:PAX9 protein, human; D051761:Paired Box Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors; C119756:pax19 protein, invertebrate; C070835:PAX1 transcription factor