Abstract
We have isolated and sequenced four different members of the Xenopus fork head domain related multigene family (XFD-4, 6, 9 and 10). These genes show a high degree of sequence conservation inside the evolutionary conserved fork head domain but they completely diverge outside this region. All four XFD genes are transcribed during embryogenesis but they are activated at different developmental stages. To investigate the localisation of transcripts we performed whole mount in situ hybridizations. We detected XFD-4 transcripts in somitogenic mesoderm, pronephros, pronephric duct, heart and the tip of the tail. XFD-6 transcripts were confined to migrating neural crest cells originating from the mesencephalon and rhombencephalon. Transcriptional activity of XFD-9 was observed in the region of rotating somites and the posterior part of the pronephric duct. XFD-10 transcripts were detected in lateral cell stripes located at the hyoid and the anterior branchial arches.
References
Bisbee CA, Baker MA, Wilson AC, Hadji-Azimi I, Fischberg M (1977) Albumin phylogeny for clawed frogs. Science 195:785–787
Bolce ME, Hemmati-Brivanlou A, Harland RM (1993) XFKH2, a Xenopus HNF-3α homologue, exhibits both activin-inducible and autonomous phases of expression in early embryos. Dev Biol 160:413–423
Clevidence DE, Overdier DG, Tao W, Qian X, Pani L, Lai E, Costa RH (1993) Identification of nine tissue-specific transcription factors of the hepatocyte nuclear factor 3/forkhead DNA-binding-domain family. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 90:3948–3952
Collazo A, Browner-Fraser M, Fraser SE (1993) Vital dye labelling of Xenopus laevis trunk neural crest reveals multipotency and novel pathways of migration. Development 118:363–376
Dirksen ML, Jamrich M (1992) A novel, activin-inducible, blastopore lip-specific gene of Xenopus laevis contains a fork head DNA-binding domain. Genes Dev 6:599–608
Hemmati-Brivanlou A, Frank D, Bolce ME, Brown BD, Sive HL, Harland RM (1990) Localisation of specific mRNAs in Xenopus embryos by whole mount in situ hybridization. Development 110:325–330
Hermann-Le Denmat S, Werner M, Sentenac A, Thuriaux P (1994) Suppression of yeast RNA polymerase III mutations by FHL1, a gene coding for a fork head protein involved in rRNA processing. Mol Cell Biol 14 (5):2905–2913
Knöchel W, Korge E, Basner A, Meyerhof W (1986) Globin evolution in the genus Xenopus. Comparative analysis of cDNAs coding for adult globin polypeptides of Xenopus borealis and Xenopus tropicalis. J Mol Evol 23:211–223
Köbchel S, Lef J, Clement JH, Hille S, Klocke B, Köster M, Knöchel W (1992) Activin A induced expression of a fork head related gene in posterior chordamesoderm (notochord) of Xenopus laevis embryos. Mech Dev 38:157–165
Krieg PA, Varnum SM, Wormington WM, Melton DA (1989) The mRNA encoding elongation factor 1-α (EF-1α) is a major transcript at the midblastula transition in Xenopus. Dev Biol 133:93–100
Lai E, Prezioso Vr, Tao W, Chen WS, Darnell JE Jr (1991) Hepatocyte nuclear factor 3α belongs to a gene family in mammals that is homologous to the Drosophila homeotic gene fork head. Genes Dev 5:416–427
Lai E, Clark KL, Burley SK, Darnell JE Jr (1993) Hepatocyte nuclear factor 3/fork head or “winged helix” proteins: A family of transcription factors of diverse biologic function. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 90:10421–10423
Lef J, Clement JH, Oschwald R, Köster M, Knöchel W (1994) Spatial and temporal transcription patterns of the forkhead related XFD-2/XFD-2′ genes in Xenopus laevis embryos. Mech Dev 45:117–126
Li C, Lai C, Sigman DS, Gaynor RB (1991) Cloning of a cellular factor, interleukin binding factor, that binds to NFAT-like motifs in the human immundeficiency virus long terminal repeat. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 88:7739–7743
Li C, Lusis AJ, Sparkes R, Tran SM, Gaynor R (1992a) Characterization and chromosomal mapping of the gene encoding the cellular DNA binding protein HTLF. Genomics 13:658–664
Li C, Lusis AJ, Sparkes R, Nirula A, Gaynor R (1992b) Characterization and chromosomal mapping of the gene encoding the cellular DNA binding protein ILF. Genomics 13:665–671
Melton DA, Krieg PA, Rebagliati MR, Maniatis T, Zinn K, Green MR (1984) Efficient in vitro synthesis of biologically active RNA and RNA hybridization probes from plasmids containing a bacteriophage SP6 promoter. Nucleic Acids Res 12: 7035–7056
Miura N, Wanaka A, Tohyama M, Tanaka K (1993) MFH-1, a new member of the fork head domain family, is expressed in developing mesenchyme. FEBS 326:171–176
Murphy DB, Wiese S, Burfeind P, Schmundt D, Mattei MG, Schulz-Schaeffer W Thies U (1994) Human brain factor 1, a new member of the fork head gene family. Genomics 21: 551–557
Nieuwkoop PD, Faber J (1956) Normal table of Xenopus laevis (Daudin). North Holland Publishing Co., Amsterdam
Pöting A, Danker K, Hartmann L, Köster M, Wedlich D, Knöchel W (1990) Two different mRNAs coding for identical elongation factor 1α (EF-1α) polypeptides in Xenopus laevis embryos. Differentiation 44:103–110
Ruiz i Altaba A, Jessel TM (1992) Pintallavis, a gene expressed in the organizer and midline of frog embryos: involvement in the development of neural axis. Development 116:81–93
Ruiz i Altaba A, Prezioso VR, Darnell JE, Jessel TM (1993) Sequential expression of HNF-3β and HNF-3α by embryonic organizing centers: the dorsal lip/node, notochord and floor plate. Mech Dev 44:91–108
Sadaghiani B, Thiebaud CH (1987) Neural crest development in the Xenopus laevis embryo, studied by interspecific transplantation and scanning electron microscopy. Dev Biol 124:91–110
Sambrook J, Fritsch EF, Maniatis T (1989) Molecular cloning: a laboratory manual, 2nd edn. Cold Spring Harbor Lab, New York
Tautz D, Pfeifle C (1989) A non-radioactive in situ hybridization method for the localization of specific RNAs in Drosophila embryos reveals translational control of the segmentation gene hunchback. Chromosoma 98:81–85
Weigel D, Jackle H (1990) Fork head: A new eukaryotic DNA binding motif? Cell 63:455–456
Weigel D, Jürgens G, Kiittner F, Seifert E, Jackle H (1989) The homeotic gene fork head encodes a nuclear protein and is expressed in the terminal regions of the Drosophila embryo. Cell 57:645–658
Zhu F, Miiller EGD, Amacher SL, Northrop JL, Davis TN (1993) A dosage-dependent suppressor of a temperature-sensitive calmodulin mutant encodes a protein related to the fork head family of DNA-binding proteins. Mol Cell Biol 13:1779–1787
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Scheucher, M., Dege, P., Lef, J. et al. Transcription patterns of four different fork head/HNF-3 related genes (XFD-4, 6, 9 and 10) in Xenopus laevis embryos. Roux's Arch Dev Biol 204, 203–211 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00241274
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00241274