title: A natural deletion of the HoxC cluster in elasmobranch fishes.
abstract: Hox proteins are a metazoan-specific family of transcription factors that are required for developmental patterning. The genomic arrangement of Hox genes into four paralogous clusters is a primitive feature of jawed vertebrates. By using high-throughput sequencing, we demonstrate the absence of all HoxC transcripts from embryos of the shark Scyliorhinus canicula and the skate Leucoraja erinacea and the absence of all HoxC genes and two HoxC-associated microRNAs from the genome of L. erinacea. These data suggest a loss of the entire HoxC cluster in elasmobranch fishes and represent evidence for the natural deletion of an entire Hox cluster in vertebrates.
authors.affiliation: Kathryn W. Davis Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine, Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, Salisbury Cove, ME 04672, USA. bking@mdibl.org
authors.forename: Benjamin L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: J Andrew
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gillis
authors.forename: Heather R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Carlisle
authors.forename: Randall D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Dahn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017353:Gene Deletion; D020868:Gene Silencing; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics; D005810:Multigene Family; D012754:Sharks / Q000235:genetics*; D012860:Skates, Fish / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D035683:MicroRNAs