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Conservation in the Hox code during morphological evolution

¹Department of Development and Signalling, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

The International Journal of Developmental Biology

|September 1, 1994

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Chicken and mouse embryos show conserved Hox gene expression patterns, suggesting evolutionary shifts in body proportions are linked to changes in these gene domains during development.

Area of Science:

Developmental biology
Evolutionary developmental biology
Genetics

Background:

Hox genes pattern the anterior-posterior axis during embryonic development.
Understanding Hox gene expression is crucial for deciphering evolutionary changes in body plans.

Purpose of the Study:

To compare the expression domains of Hoxb-3, HoxA-4, and HoxC-6 genes in chicken and mouse embryos.
To investigate the conservation of the "Hox code" in homologous axial structures across species.
To explore how evolutionary changes in body proportions relate to Hox gene expression patterns.

Main Methods:

Analysis of paraxial mesoderm gene expression in chicken embryos.
Comparison with existing mouse embryonic expression data for Hoxb-3, HoxA-4, and HoxC-6 genes.

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Main Results:

Hoxb-3 and HoxA-4 expression anterior limits are in the upper cervical region in both chicken and mouse embryos.
HoxC-6 expression anterior limits are in the upper thoracic region in both species.
Despite differences in cervical vertebrae number (chicken: 14, mouse: 7), expression boundaries align with homologous axial regions.

Conclusions:

The Hox code, governing axial patterning, is conserved between chickens and mice for homologous structures.
Evolutionary changes in vertebrate body proportions are associated with shifts in Hox gene expression domain positioning during embryogenesis.