title: The urbilaterian Super-Hox cluster.
abstract: Comparison of whole genome sequences of representative animals enables reconstruction of the ancestral bilaterian genome: the starting point from which most extant animal lineages evolved. The Hox gene cluster patterns the anterior-posterior axis of bilaterians. Here we show that this cluster was embedded within a larger homeobox gene cluster, the Super-Hox cluster, in the ancestral bilaterian. This Super-Hox cluster contained at least eight genes alongside the core Hox genes ('EuHox' genes).
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Butts
authors.forename: Peter W H
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Holland
authors.forename: David E K
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Ferrier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005801:Genes, Homeobox; D017344:Genes, Insect; D016678:Genome; D005810:Multigene Family