Drosophila homeobox genes

VIII. MAMMALIAN-DROSOPHILA HOMEOBOX GENE EXCHANGES... 

The most dramatic illustration of the evolutionary conservation of homeobox genes comes from experiments that swap Drosophila and mammalian cognates and test for functional equivalence. McGinnis and co-workers have reported remarkable phenotypic similarities in flies that misexpress Drosophila homeobox genes or their mammalian counterparts. Indeed, this ectopic expression assay in Drosophila indicates that the Drosophila and cognate mammalian homeobox proteins are essentially functionally identical. 

Graham, H., Papalopulu, N., and Krumlauf. R. (1989). The murine and Drosophila homeobox gene complexes have common features of organization and expression. Cell 57 367-378. 

Dohrmann, C., Azpiazu, N., and Frasch, M. (1990). A new Drosophila homeobox gene is expressed in mesodermal precursor cells ofdistinct muscles during embryogenesis. Genes Dev. 4 2098-2111. 

Nose, A., Isshiki, T., and Takeichi, M. (1998). Regional specification of muscle progenitors in Drosophila The role of the msh homeobox gene. Development 725 215-223. 

Tribioli, C., Frasch, M., and Lufkin, T. (1997). Bapxl An evolutionary conserved homologue of the Drosophila bagpipe homeobox gene is expressed in splanchnic mesoderm and the embryonic skeleton. Mech. Dev. 65 145-162. 

Jagla, K., Jagla, T., Heitzler, P., Dretzen, G., Bellard, F., Bellard, M. 1997. Ladybird, a tandem of homeobox genes that maintain late wingless expression in terminal and dorsal epidermis of the Drosophila embryo. Development 124, 91-100. 

Dong, P.D., Chu, J., Panganiban, G. 2000. Coexpression of the homeobox genes Distal-less and homothorax determines Drosophila antennal identity. Development 127, 209-216. 

Gorfinkiel, N., Morata, G., Guerrero, I. 1997. The homeobox gene Distal-less induces ventral appendage development in Drosophila. Genes Dev. 11, 2259-2271. 

Hirth, F., Therianos, S., Loop, T., Gehring, W.J., Reichert, H., Furukubo-Tokunaga, K. 1995. Developmental defects in brain segmentation caused by mutations of the homeobox gene orthodenticle and empty spiracles in Drosophila. Neuron 15, 769-778. 

Royet, J., Finkelstein, R. 1995. Pattern formation in Drosophila head development the role of the orthodenticle homeobox gene. Development 121, 3561-3572. 

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