Kl. Hammond et al., MAMMALIAN AND DROSOPHILA DACHSHUND GENES ARE RELATED TO THE SKI PROTOONCOGENE AND ARE EXPRESSED IN EYE AND LIMB, Mechanisms of development, 74(1-2), 1998, pp. 121-131
We have isolated mammalian homologues of the Drosophila dachshund gene
. Two domains of high conservation, one of which contains an alpha-hel
ical, coiled-coil motif, show similarity to the Ski family of genes. W
e therefore propose that Dachshund belongs to a superfamily including
these genes. Mouse Dachshund (Dach) is expressed in the eye and limb,
structures affected by the Drosophila loss-of-function mutant, and rib
primordia, CNS and genital eminence. Pax6 and Dach show overlapping b
ut non-identical expression patterns. Dach expression is unaffected in
smalleye mouse brain, indicating that Pax6 is not directly activating
Dach. In Drosophila eye development dachshund is a component of an in
teracting network of proteins. Genes homologous to many of these exist
in mammals; Dach joins this expanding group. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scienc
e Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.