title: Homeobox genes expressed during echinoderm arm regeneration.
abstract: Regeneration in echinoderms has proved to be more amenable to study in the laboratory than the more classical vertebrate models, since the smaller genome size and the absence of multiple orthologs for different genes in echinoderms simplify the analysis of gene function during regeneration. In order to understand the role of homeobox-containing genes during arm regeneration in echinoderms, we isolated the complement of genes belonging to the Hox class that are expressed during this process in two major echinoderm groups: asteroids (Echinaster sepositus and Asterias rubens) and ophiuroids (Amphiura filiformis), both of which show an extraordinary capacity for regeneration. By exploiting the sequence conservation of the homeobox, putative orthologs of several Hox genes belonging to the anterior, medial, and posterior groups were isolated. We also report the isolation of a few Hox-like genes expressed in the same systems.
authors.affiliation: Genetics Department, University of Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 645, 08028, Barcelona, Spain, youssra_benkhadra@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Yousra
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ben Khadra
authors.forename: Khaled
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Said
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thorndyke
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martinez
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004447:Echinodermata / Q000502:physiology*; D015870:Gene Expression; D005801:Genes, Homeobox; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012038:Regeneration; D013215:Starfish / Q000502:physiology