| Autor: |
Montalta-He, Haiqiong, Leemans, Ronny, Loop, Thomas, Strahm, Martin, Certa, Ulrich, Primig, Michael, Acampora, Dario, Simeone, Antonio, Reichert, Heinrich |
| Zdroj: |
Genome Biology; April 2002, Vol. 3 Issue: 4 |
| Abstrakt: |
Background: Homeobox genes of the orthodenticle(otd)/Otxfamily have conserved roles in the embryogenesis of head and brain. Gene replacement experiments show that the Drosophila otdgene and orthologous mammalian Otxgenes are functionally equivalent, in that overexpression of either gene in null mutants of Drosophilaor mouse can restore defects in cephalic and brain development. This suggests that otdand Otxgenes control a comparable subset of downstream target genes in either organism. Here we use quantitative transcript imaging to analyze this equivalence of otdand Otxgene action at a genomic level. Results: Oligonucleotide arrays representing 13,400 annotated Drosophilagenes were used to study differential gene expression in flies in which either the Drosophila otdgene or the human Otx2gene was overexpressed. Two hundred and eighty-seven identified transcripts showed highly significant changes in expression levels in response to otdoverexpression, and 682 identified transcripts showed highly significant changes in expression levels in response to Otx2overexpression. Among these, 93 showed differential expression changes following overexpression of either otdor Otx2, and for 90 of these, comparable changes were observed under both experimental conditions. We postulate that these transcripts are common downstream targets of the fly otdgene and the human Otx2gene in Drosophila. Conclusion: Our experiments indicate that approximately one third of the otd-regulated transcripts also respond to overexpression of the human Otx2gene in Drosophila. These common otd/Otx2downstream genes are likely to represent the molecular basis of the functional equivalence of otdand Otx2gene action in Drosophila. |
| Databáze: |
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