Evidence for at least six Hox clusters in the Japanese lamprey ( Lethenteron japonicum )

Significance Lampreys and hagfishes (cyclostomes) are the only living group of jawless vertebrates and therefore are important for the study of vertebrate evolution. We have characterized Hox clusters in the Japanese lamprey (Lethenteron japonicum ), and shown that it contains at least six Hox clusters as compared with four Hox clusters in tetrapods. This suggests that the lamprey lineage has undergone an additional round of genome duplication compared with tetrapods. Several conserved noncoding elements (CNEs) were predicted in the Hox clusters of lamprey, elephant shark, and human. Transgenic assay of CNEs demonstrated their potential to function ascis -regulatory elements. Thus, these CNEs may represent part of the core set ofcis -regulatory elements that were present in the common ancestor of vertebrates.