Comparative Studies on Mammalian Hoxc8 Early Enhancer Sequence Reveal a Baleen Whale-Specific Deletion of a Cis-Acting Element

Variations in regulatory regions of developmental control genes have been implicated in the divergence of axial morphologies. To find potentially significant changes in cis-regulatory regions, we compared nucleotide sequences and activities of mammalian Hoxc8 early enhancers. The nucleotide sequence...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1998-12, Vol.95 (26), p.15446-15451
Main Authors: Shashikant, Cooduvalli S., Kim, Chang B., Borbely, Marc A., Wayne C. H. Wang, Ruddle, Frank H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Balaenidae
Baleen
Base Sequence
beta-Galactosidase - genetics
Biological Sciences
Embryonic and Fetal Development
Embryos
Enhancer Elements, Genetic
Evolution
Evolution, Molecular
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
Genes
Genomics
Homeodomain Proteins - genetics
Humans
Mammals
Mammals - classification
Mammals - genetics
Mesoderm
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Mice, Transgenic
Molecular Sequence Data
Nucleotide sequences
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Reporter genes
Sequence Deletion
Spermatozoa
Transgenic animals
Whales
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Summary:Variations in regulatory regions of developmental control genes have been implicated in the divergence of axial morphologies. To find potentially significant changes in cis-regulatory regions, we compared nucleotide sequences and activities of mammalian Hoxc8 early enhancers. The nucleotide sequence of the early enhancer region is extremely conserved among mammalian clades, with five previously described cis-acting elements, A--E, being invariant. However, a 4-bp deletion within element C of the Hoxc8 early enhancer sequence is observed in baleen whales. When assayed in transgenic mouse embryos, a baleen whale enhancer (unlike other mammalian enhancers) directs expression of the reporter gene to more posterior regions of the neural tube but fails to direct expression to posterior mesoderm. We suggest that regulation of Hoxc8 in baleen whales differs from other mammalian species and may be associated with variation in axial morphology.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.95.26.15446