SpHox8

Function

The function of this gene is not quitely researched still.
SpHox8 is the paralog group 8 Hox gene of Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. SpHox8 is a single-copy gene, and there is only one Hox gene cluster per genome in S. purpuratus. (Martinez et al., 1997)

Protein

The homeodomain obviously belongs to the HOX class of homeodomain proteins. This gene codes for a protein of 308 residues. At the N-terminus of the protein there is a ten amino-acid sequence element, which is very similar to the equivalent regions of chordate HOX proteins belonging to paralog groups 5-8.
Following the conserved N-terminal peptide there is a region in which serine (26%), proline (11%), and threonine (9%) are highly represented.
The predicted amino acid sequence also contains a highly conserved hexapeptide (GYPWMP), which has been found in most HOX proteins (Martinez et al., 1997)
GenBank: 1339973

Subcellular location

Expression Pattern

Late in the pluteus, Hox8 transcripts were found localized to the vertex of the aboral ectoderm, i.e., in the progeny of a specific aboral ectoderm founder cell, VA (Cameron R. A. et al., 1987), although earlier they have a more widespread distribution.

Sequences

GenBank:

SpHox8 mRNA

Regulatory Regions

Regions

Regulatory Connections

Upstream Genes

SpHox8

Downstream Genes

Evolutionary Homologues

Links

Urchin Web

Bibliography

UrchiNet

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