title: Isolation of Hox and ParaHox genes in the bivalve Pecten maximus.
abstract: The Hox cluster genes encode a set of transcription factors that have been shown to control spatial patterning mechanisms in bilaterian organism development. The ParaHox cluster is the evolutionary sister of the Hox cluster. The two are believed to descend from an ancestral ProtoHox cluster of four genes from which the three ParaHox genes (Gsx, Xlox, and Cdx) and the four Hox gene classes are believed to have originated. Although molluscs are among the most successful lophotrochozoan groups, very little work has been devoted to the characteristics of their homeotic genes. Using polymerase chain reaction-based approaches, we isolated 13 different Pecten maximus (Bivalvia: Pteriomorphia) sequences corresponding to all the genes of the four Hox cluster classes and to genes Xlox and Cdx of the ParaHox cluster. Comparison of results with those obtained in other lophotrochozoans seems to confirm the considerable homogeneity of the Hox and ParaHox genes in these taxa both as regards the presence of nearly all the genes of the two clusters and the marked sequence resemblance among orthologous genes.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Biologia e Genetica, Facoltà di Scienze, Università Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche, I-60131 Ancona, Italy. a.canapa@univpm.it
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Canapa
authors.forename: Maria Assunta
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Biscotti
authors.forename: Ettore
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Olmo
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barucca
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008974:Mollusca / Q000235:genetics*; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D004247:DNA