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Why are Hox genes clustered?
Author(s) -
Mann Richard S.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.950190804
Subject(s) - hox gene , enhancer , biology , gene , genetics , evolutionary biology , homeobox , chromosome , computational biology , transcription factor
The evolutionarily conserved genomic organization of the Hox genes has been a puzzle ever since it was discovered that their order along the chromosome is similar to the order of their functional domains along the antero‐posterior axis. Why has this colinearity been maintained throughout evolution? A close look at regulatory sequences from the mouse Hox clusters (1,2) suggests that enhancer sharing between adjacent Hox genes may be one reason. Moreover, characterizing the activity of one of these mouse enhancers in Drosophila (2) illustrates that despite many similarities, not all Hox clusters are built in the same way.