Molecular Reproduction and Development · 2001 · 75 citations · 38 references
Life SciencesDevelopmental BiologyGeneticsCell DifferentiationEmbryogenesisMorphogenesisEarly Embryonic PatterningEmbryonic PatterningHox Gene FunctionNeural Crest DevelopmentNeural Crest GeneticsNeural DevelopmentDevelopmental Patterning In VertebratesDivergent Expression PatternsDlx Gene RegulationEctodermal MorphogenesisNeural Plate Border FormationNeural Plate FormationPattern Formation In EmbryogenesisSequence Homology
In vertebrates, there are six or more copies of genes related to the Drosophila pattern formation homeodomain gene Distal-less. Among this family, Dlx3 and Dlx5 share extensive sequence homology and have similar, but distinctive, expression patterns, suggesting that these two factors may have substantially redundant developmental functions. Here we show that at the earliest phases of embryogenesis in Xenopus, there are significant differences between Dlx3 and Dlx5 expression and that this correlates with different functions in the restriction of neural crest and neural plate boundaries, respectively.
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