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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 5, 2026

The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions

The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions

Published on: February 16, 2017

The urbilaterian Super-Hox cluster.

Thomas Butts¹, Peter W H Holland, David E K Ferrier

¹Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.

Trends in Genetics : TIG

|May 13, 2008

Summary

Scientists reconstructed the ancestral bilaterian genome by comparing animal genomes. They discovered a larger

Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Genomics
Developmental biology

Background:

The Hox gene cluster is crucial for patterning the anterior-posterior axis in bilaterians.
Understanding the ancestral bilaterian genome provides insights into early animal evolution.

Purpose of the Study:

To reconstruct the ancestral bilaterian genome.
To investigate the organization of homeobox genes in the ancestral bilaterian.

Main Methods:

Comparative genomics of representative animal species.
Whole genome sequence analysis.

Main Results:

Reconstruction of the ancestral bilaterian genome was achieved.
The Hox gene cluster was found embedded within a larger 'Super-Hox' cluster.

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The Super-Hox cluster contained at least eight additional homeobox genes alongside the core Hox genes (termed 'EuHox' genes).

Conclusions:

The ancestral bilaterian genome contained a 'Super-Hox' cluster, predating the modern Hox cluster.
This finding expands our understanding of early gene organization and evolution in animals.