A SEA-URCHIN HOMOLOG OF CEH-19, AN UNUSUAL HOMEOBOX-CONTAINING GENE FROM A NEMATODE

When screening for homeobox-containing genes from the sea urchin Helio cidaris erythrogramma (He), we isolated an exon of a gene which appear s to be a homologue of the homeobox-containing gene, ceh-19, of Caenor habditis elegans (Ce). The predicted translation of the sea urchin seq uence shows 77% identity and 92% similarity to the first 53 amino acid s of the homeodomain of ceh-19. The ceh-19 gene exhibits an intron in an unusual location in the 3' end of the homeobox; the He gene shares this feature.