Construct · 1 fields · 3 citations

Hox genes: a standalone construct

One name. One construct. A landmark on the map.

● anchor · a standalone construct Nearest construct by meaningsegmentationcompare the meanings
How to read this

Every construct on the map is compared with every other by the meaning of its definitions, and the closest one is surfaced here. The nearest construct to Hox genes is segmentation.

Hold this as a prompt, not a verdict. Two constructs sitting close in meaning is a reason to read them side by side and decide for yourself whether they are one idea under two names. It is not proof that they are. Compare the meanings in the Collider.

Hox genes1 CONSTRUCTHox genesLEWIS · BODY-PLAN GENES

A single standalone construct; nearby constructs are located against it in the Collider. Tap a field for its definition, unit, and measures.

Developmental genetics

Conserved homeobox genes that specify body-segment identity along the head-to-tail axis

Edward B. Lewis's 1978 study of the bithorax complex in the fruit fly Drosophila showed that a cluster of neighbouring genes controls the identity of successive body segments, so that a single mutation could transform one segment into the likeness of another, for example turning a fly's balancing organs into a second pair of wings. In 1984 two teams, McGinnis, Levine, Hafen, Kuroiwa, and Gehring, and independently Scott and Weiner, found that these body-patterning genes share a short, highly conserved stretch of DNA called the homeobox, which encodes a protein module that binds DNA and switches other genes on or off. Genes carrying this homeobox and arranged in clusters that specify segment identity along the head-to-tail (anterior-posterior) axis are what are now called Hox genes, a family conserved from insects to mammals in which the order of the genes on the chromosome matches the order of the body regions they govern, a property called colinearity. The construct names the transcription-factor genes (genes whose products control the reading of other genes) that assign what develops where along the main body axis across most animals, which makes it the molecular reference point for how an animal body plan is laid out.[1][2][3]

Unit
A clustered family of homeobox transcription-factor genes, each gene specifying the identity of a region along the body axis
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Identified by the shared homeobox DNA sequence, chromosomal clustering with colinear expression along the body axis, and the homeotic transformations seen when a gene is mutated, deleted, or misexpressed

Next

Run it through the Collider, or take the citations with you.

See how Hox genes sits against neighbouring constructs in the Collider, or export every reference on this page in one click.

Open in ColliderExport BibTeXReport this entry

Nearby constructs

morphogen1 fields · 2 citationsanchor · a standalone constructsegmentation5 fields · 5 citationsjingle · one word, five constructsaxis1 fields · 1 citationsanchor · a standalone construct

References

  1. Lewis, E. B. (1978). A gene complex controlling segmentation in Drosophila. Nature, 276(5688), 565–570. https://doi.org/10.1038/276565a0
  2. McGinnis, W., Levine, M. S., Hafen, E., Kuroiwa, A., & Gehring, W. J. (1984). A conserved DNA sequence in homoeotic genes of the Drosophila Antennapedia and bithorax complexes. Nature, 308(5958), 428–433. https://doi.org/10.1038/308428a0
  3. Scott, M. P., & Weiner, A. J. (1984). Structural relationships among genes that control development: Sequence homology between the Antennapedia, Ultrabithorax, and fushi tarazu loci of Drosophila. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 81(13), 4115–4119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.81.13.4115

Cited on this page?

Confirm your construct, or correct us.

If your work is cited behind one of these entries, you know better than we do whether we captured the meaning right. Confirm it, suggest an edit, or dispute it, and your name goes on the entry as an author who has checked it, linked to your ORCID.

Claim your construct