Two steps in the evolution of Antennapedia-class vertebrate homeobox genes

Antennapedia-class vertebrate homeobox genes have been classified with regard to their chromosomal locations and nucleotide sequence similarities within the 183-base-pair homeobox domain. The results of these comparisons support the view that in mammals and most likely the vertebrates, four clusters of homeobox genes exist that were created by duplications of an entire primordial gene cluster. We present evidence that this primordial cluster arose by local gene duplications of homeoboxes that were present before the divergence of arthropods and chordates. Sequence analyses indicate that the expansion of the primordial gene cluster complex was accompanied by diversification, whereas conservation predominated after the duplications of entire homeobox gene clusters.