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MBE Advance Access published online on October 5, 2009
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msp235
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Letter

Chordate Hox and ParaHox Gene Clusters Differ Dramatically in Their Repetitive Element Content

Peter W. Osborne1,2,3 and David E. K. Ferrier1

1 Scottish Oceans Institute (formerly The Gatty Marine Laboratory), University of St Andrews, East Sands, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 8LB, UK
2 Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK
3 present address; Prince of Wales Clinical School of Medicine, Lowy Cancer Research Centre, M404B, Wallace Wurth Building, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia

Corresponding author: David E. K. Ferrier: Address: Scottish Oceans Institute (formerly The Gatty Marine Laboratory), University of St Andrews, East Sands, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 8LB, UK. email:dekf@st-andrews.ac.uk, telephone: +44 (0)1334 463480, fax: +44 (0)1334 463443

Received for publication June 15, 2009. Revision received August 7, 2009. Revision received September 24, 2009. Accepted for publication September 28, 2009.

The ParaHox and Hox gene clusters control aspects of animal anterior-posterior development, and are related as paralogous evolutionary sisters. Despite this relationship it is not clear if the clusters operate in similar ways, with similar constraints. To compare clusters we examined the transposable element (TE) content of amphioxus and mammalian ParaHox and Hox clusters. Chordate Hox clusters are known to be largely devoid of TEs, possibly due to gene regulation and constraints on clustering in these animals. Here we describe several novel amphioxus TEs and show the amphioxus ParaHox cluster is a hotspot for TE insertion. TE contents of mammalian ParaHox loci are at background levels, in stark contrast to chordate Hox clusters. This marks a significant difference between Hox and ParaHox clusters. The presence of so many potentially disruptive elements implies selection constrains these ParaHox clusters as they have not dispersed despite 500 MY of evolution for each lineage.

Key Words: MITE • ParaHox • repetitive elements • Hox • amphioxus


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