... embryos. Foxh1 is expressed maternally in Xenopus . Depletion of maternal Foxh1 mRNA results in abnormalities of head and dorsal axis formation. We show that FoxH1 is required, together with XTcf3/β catenin,to activate the zygotic expression of the nodal gene, Xnr3 in a Smad2-independent manner...

... for convergent extension movements but the relationship between cell fate and morphogenesis is little understood. We show by loss of function analysis that Xnr3 activates Xbra expression through FGFR1. We show that eFGF activity is not essential in the pathway, and that dishevelled acts downstream of Xnr3...

... region of the fertilised egg during cortical rotation. While the molecular identity of the determinants is unknown, there are dorsal factors in the vegetal cortical cytoplasm (VCC). Here, we show that the VCC factors, when injected into animal cells activate the zygotic genes Siamois and Xnr3...

... recently been identified. The TGFβ family member Xnr3 is similar in amino acid sequence to the mouse factor nodal and is expressed in a restricted group of cells in the superficial layer of Spemann’s organizer. Xnr3, unlike the related factors nodal, Xnr1 and Xnr2, lacks mesoderm-inducing activity. We...