Temporal and spatial expression patterns of FoxD2 during the early development of Xenopus laevis

We have investigated the sequence and expression pattern of the Xenopus laevis FoxD2 gene, a member of the fork head/winged helix multigene family. The derived protein sequence is most closely related to FoxD2 factors known from other species. Maternal FoxD2 transcripts are degraded during early cleavage stages. Zygotic transcription is activated after the midblastula transition followed by a pronounced increase during neurulation. Whole mount in situ hybridisations reveal that FoxD2 is predominantly expressed in the paraxial mesoderm, but not within the myotome. In addition, FoxD2 transcripts are found within the migrating ventral abdominal muscle precursors, in cranial neural crest cells surrounding the eye and populating the second and third visceral arches as well as within restricted areas of the diencephalon. In hatched tadpoles, FoxD2 expression is also observed within the terminal part of the gut.