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Characterization of a Maternal T-Box Gene in Ciona intestinalis
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Characterization of a Maternal T-Box Gene in Ciona intestinalis

Albert Erives and Michael Levine
Developmental biology, Vol.225(1), pp.169-178
09/01/2000
DOI: 10.1006/dbio.2000.9815
PMID: 10964472
url
https://doi.org/10.1006/dbio.2000.9815View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

A new T-box gene, CiVegTR, was isolated in the ascidian Ciona intestinalis. CiVegTR maternal RNAs become localized to the vegetal cytoplasm of fertilized eggs and are incorporated into muscle lineages derived from the B4.1 blastomere. The CiVegTR protein binds to specific sequences within a minimal, 262-bp enhancer that mediates Ci-snail expression in the tail muscles. Mutations in these binding sites abolish expression from an otherwise normal lacZ reporter gene in electroporated embryos. In addition to the previously identified AC-core E-box sequences, T-box recognition sequences are conserved in the promoter regions of many genes expressed in B4.1 lineages in both Ciona and the distantly related ascidian Halocynthia. These results suggest that CiVegTR encodes a component of the classical muscle determinant that was first identified in ascidians nearly 100 years ago.

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