Journal article
Evolution of coding and non-coding genes in HOX clusters of a marsupial
H Yu, J Lindsay, ZP Feng, S Frankenberg, Y Hu, D Carone, G Shaw, AJ Pask, R O'Neill, AT Papenfuss, MB Renfree
BMC Genomics | Published : 2012
Open access
Abstract
Background: The HOX gene clusters are thought to be highly conserved amongst mammals and other vertebrates, but the long non-coding RNAs have only been studied in detail in human and mouse. The sequencing of the kangaroo genome provides an opportunity to use comparative analyses to compare the HOX clusters of a mammal with a distinct body plan to those of other mammals.Results: Here we report a comparative analysis of HOX gene clusters between an Australian marsupial of the kangaroo family and the eutherians. There was a strikingly high level of conservation of HOX gene sequence and structure and non-protein coding genes including the microRNAs miR-196a, miR-196b, miR-10a and miR-10b and the..
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Funding Acknowledgements
We thank members of the tammar research team for assistance with the collection of the samples. We thank Ms. Bonnie Dopheide for assistance with the FISH experiment. We also thank Prof A Fujiyama and Dr. Y Kuroki for kindly providing the BAC library for screening the incomplete HOXA1 and HOXD13 genes. This study was supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in Kangaroo Genomics; an ARC Federation Fellowship to MBR, a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) R. D. Wright Fellowship to AJP and an NHMRC Career Development Fellowship to ATP.