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Evolutionary biology

Time, space and genomes

Nature volume 431, pages 28–29 (2004)Cite this article

In most animals, the Hox genes — which control development — are clustered together. But why? New evidence supports the idea that the requirement for a temporal order of expression keeps the cluster intact.

Some of the most striking discoveries in developmental biology over the past century concern the set of genes called homeotic (Hox) genes. Genetic studies in fruitflies first showed that these genes have a major role in producing the head-to-tail (anterior–posterior) pattern of tissues along the body axis. Then came the startling finding that the order of these genes along a chromosome correlates with the anterior–posterior position of the body regions they control, and with the domains in which the genes are expressed. It soon became apparent that the same relationship exists in other animal groups, including vertebrates. Intriguingly, however, it seems that somewhere in the evolutionary lineage leading to the tunicate Oikopleura dioica, the Hox complex has disintegrated, as Seo and colleagues report on page 67 of this issue1.

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Figure 1: Distant relative.

R. RUDOLF

References

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  1. Departments of Molecular and Cell Biology, and of Integrative Biology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, 94720-3140, California, USA

    Nipam H. Patel

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  1. Nipam H. Patel
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Patel, N. Time, space and genomes. Nature 431, 28–29 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/431028a

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