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Expression of a Hox gene, Cnox-2, and the division of labor in a colonial hydroid
P Cartwright1, J Bowsher, L W Buss
1Department of Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. pcart@eagle.cc.ukans.edu
Abstract:
We report the isolation and expression of the Hox gene, Cnox-2, in Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus, a hydrozoan displaying division of labor. We found different patterns of aboral-to-oral Cnox-2 expression among polyp polymorphs, and we show that experimental conversion of one polyp type to another is accompanied by concordant alteration in Cnox-2 expression. Our results are consistent with the suggestion that polyp polymorphism, characteristic of hydractiniid hydroids, arose via evolutionary modification of proportioning of head to body column.
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