Open AccessThe Antennapedia-type homeobox genes have evolved from three precursors separated early in metazoan evolution.
Author(s) -
Frank Schubert,
Katja Nieselt-Struwe,
Peter Gruß
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.90.1.143
Subject(s) - homeobox , antennapedia , biology , homeobox protein nkx 2.5 , hnf1b , most recent common ancestor , evolutionary biology , homeobox a1 , genetics , gene , gene duplication , phylogenetics , transcription factor
The developmental control genes containing an Antennapedia-type homeobox are clustered in insects and vertebrates. The evolution of these genes was studied by the construction of evolutionary trees and by statistical geometry in sequence space. The comparative analysis of the homeobox sequences reveals the subdivision of the Antennapedia-type homeobox genes into three classes early in metazoan evolution. This observation suggests an important function of these genes even in the most primitive metazoans. Subsequent duplication events generated a cluster of at least five homeobox genes in the last common ancestor of insects and vertebrates. These genes later independently gave rise to the 13 groups of paralogous genes in vertebrates and to the 11 Antennapedia-type genes in the Drosophila complexes.