As a result of a whole genome duplication event in the lineage leading to teleosts, the zebrafish has seven clusters of Hox patterning genes, rather than four, as described for tetrapod vertebrates. To investigate the consequences of this genome duplication, we have carried out a detailed comparison of genes from a single Hox paralogue group, paralogue group (PG) 1. We have analyzed the sequences, expression patterns and potential functions of all four of the zebrafish PG1 Hox genes, and compared our data with that available for the three mouse genes. As the basic functions of Hox genes appear to be tightly constrained, comparison with mouse data has allowed us to identify specific changes in the developmental roles of Hox genes that have occurred during vertebrate evolution. We have found variation in expression patterns, amino acid sequences within functional domains, and potential gene functions both within the PG1 genes of zebrafish, and in comparison to mouse PG1 genes. We observed novel expression patterns in the midbrain, such that zebrafish hoxa1a and hoxc1a are expressed anterior to the domain traditionally thought to be under Hox patterning control. The hoxc1a gene shows significant coding sequence changes in known functional domains, which correlate with a reduced capacity to cause posteriorizing transformations. Moreover, the hoxb1 duplicate genes have differing functional capacities, suggesting divergence after duplication. We also find that an intriguing function ‘shuffling’ between paralogues has occurred, such that one of the zebrafish hoxb1 duplicates, hoxb1b, performs the role in hindbrain patterning played in mouse by the non-orthologous Hoxa1 gene.
History of our journals
As our publisher, The Company of Biologists, turns 100 years old, read about Development’s journey and highlights from some its first issues, and explore the history of each of our sister journals: Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open.
Call for papers – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues
Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues. This issue will be coordinated by Guest Editors Meritxell Huch (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany) and Mansi Srivastava (Harvard University and Museum of Comparative Zoology, USA), working alongside our team of academic Editors. Submit your articles by 15 May 2025.
A case for broadening our view of mechanism in developmental biology
In this Perspective, B. Duygu Özpolat and colleagues survey researchers on their views on what it takes to infer mechanism in developmental biology. They examine what factors shape our idea of what we mean by ‘mechanism’ and suggest a path forward that embraces a broad outlook on the diversity of studies that advance knowledge in our field.
In preprints
About us
Social media
