title: DNA variations within the sea urchin Otx gene enhancer.
abstract: We performed both intra- and interspecific comparisons of the Otx gene in the sea urchin to investigate DNA variations within the enhancer elements. Intraspecific comparisons within Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus showed that indel variations were rare within the Otx enhancer, whereas SNP variations were found uniformly within the whole test region. A similar pattern of DNA variation was observed in comparisons between closely related species. On the other hand, both nucleotide substitution and indel variations were at high levels between distant species. Additionally, the regions corresponding to the Otx enhancer in two related species showed substantial activities during development. Our results suggest the possibility that a stabilizing selection has occurred during the evolution of the Otx gene enhancer in the sea urchin that maintains its expression pattern.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematical and Life Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan. tybig@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Rie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kawamoto
authors.forename: Takayoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Naoaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shibata
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation; D047330:Hemicentrotus / Q000235:genetics*; D047331:Lytechinus / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D051857:Otx Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D051857:Otx Transcription Factors; D004247:DNA