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odd-skipped homologs function during gut development in C. elegans

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Abstract

Genes in the odd-skipped (odd) family encode a discrete subset of C2H2 zinc finger proteins that are widely distributed among metazoan phyla. Although the initial member (odd) was identified as a Drosophila pair-rule gene, various homologs are expressed within each of the three germ layers in complex patterns that suggest roles in many pathways beyond segmentation. To further investigate the evolutionary history and extant functions of genes in this family, we have initiated a characterization of two homologs, odd-1 and odd-2, identified in the genome of the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans. Sequence comparisons with homologs from insects (Drosophila and Anopheles) and mammals suggest that two paralogs were present within an ancestral metazoan; additional insect paralogs and both extant mammalian genes likely resulted from gene duplications that occurred after the split between the arthropods and chordates. Analyses of gene function using RNAi indicate that odd-1 and odd-2 play essential and distinct roles during gut development. Specific expression of both genes in the developing intestine and other cells in the vicinity of the gut was shown using GFP-reporters. These results indicate primary functions for both genes that are most like those of the Drosophila paralogs bowel and drumstick, and support a model in which gut specification represents the ancestral role for genes in this family.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Larry Schriefer for instruction and assistance in generating the GFP reporter constructs and transgenic lines. We also thank Tim Schedl and lab members, particularly Sudhir Nayak and Dave Hansen, for scientific discussions and the use of the lab microscope, Aguan Wei for the myo-2::GFP plasmid, and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments and suggestions. This research was supported by a Beaumont Faculty Development Award from Saint Louis University.

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Author notes

  1. Martin S. Buckley

    Present address: Department of Biochemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA

  2. Johnnie Chau

    Present address: Biomedical Sciences Training Program, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Saint Louis University, 3507 Laclede Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63103-2010, USA

    Martin S. Buckley, Johnnie Chau & Douglas E. Coulter

  2. Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA

    Pamela E. Hoppe

Authors
  1. Martin S. Buckley
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  2. Johnnie Chau
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  3. Pamela E. Hoppe
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  4. Douglas E. Coulter
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Douglas E. Coulter.

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Edited by C. Desplan

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Buckley, M.S., Chau, J., Hoppe, P.E. et al. odd-skipped homologs function during gut development in C. elegans . Dev Genes Evol 214, 10–18 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-003-0369-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-003-0369-x

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