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Updated: Sep 23, 2026

Functional Cloning Using a Xenopus Oocyte Expression System
Published on: January 30, 2016
The role of gene duplication in the evolution and function of the vertebrate Dlx/distal-less bigene clusters
Kenta Sumiyama1, Steven Q Irvine, Frank H Ruddle
1Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, PO Box 208103, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
Abstract:
The Dlx gene family controls developmental patterning principally in the pharyngeal and cranial regions. We review the structure and function of these genes in the vertebrates and relate these properties to their evolution. We particularly focus on the Dlx3-7 bigene cluster which we postulate to be more derived phylogenetically and functionally than the other two bigene clusters, Dlx1-2 and Dlx5-6. We stress the transcriptional control of the Dlx3-7 bigene cluster, and postulate its control by Dlx1-2.
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