View the Current Issue

Article

  • The EMBO Journal (2007) 26, 2955 - 2965
  • doi:10.1038/sj.emboj.7601705

Published online: 24 May 2007

The opposing homeobox genes Goosecoid and Vent1/2 self-regulate Xenopus patterningEMBO Open

Veronika Sander1, Bruno Reversade1 and E M De Robertis1

  1. Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Correspondence to:

E M De Robertis, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, 675 Charles Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1662, USA. Tel.: +1 310 206 1401; Fax: +1 310 206 2008; E-mail: ederobertis@mednet.ucla.edu

Received 24 January 2007; Accepted 5 April 2007

We present a loss-of-function study using antisense morpholino (MO) reagents for the organizer-specific gene Goosecoid (Gsc) and the ventral genes Vent1 and Vent2. Unlike in the mouse Gsc is required in Xenopus for mesodermal patterning during gastrulation, causing phenotypes ranging from reduction of head structures—including cyclopia and holoprosencephaly—to expansion of ventral tissues in MO-injected embryos. The overexpression effects of Gsc mRNA require the expression of the BMP antagonist Chordin, a downstream target of Gsc. Combined Vent1 and Vent2 MOs strongly dorsalized the embryo. Unexpectedly, simultaneous depletion of all three genes led to a rescue of almost normal development in a variety of embryological assays. Thus, the phenotypic effects of depleting Gsc or Vent1/2 are caused by the transcriptional upregulation of their opposing counterparts. A principal function of Gsc and Vent1/2 homeobox genes might be to mediate a self-adjusting mechanism that restores the basic body plan when deviations from the norm occur, rather than generating individual cell types. The results may shed light on the molecular mechanisms of genetic redundancy.

  • Keywords:

    • BMP,
    • Chordin,
    • embryonic induction,
    • Goosecoid,
    • Vent

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This license does not permit commercial exploitation or the creation of derivative works without specific permission.

The EMBO Journal is published by Nature Publishing Group on behalf of European Molecular Biology Organization