AMPHIOXUS AMPHIDRAL ENCODING A LIM-DOMAIN PROTEIN - EXPRESSION IN THEEPIDERMIS BUT NOT IN THE PRESUMPTIVE NEUROECTODERM

The sequence and developmental expression have been determined for amp hioxus AmphiDRAL, which encodes a homolog of vertebrate DRAL (down-reg ulated in rhabdomyosarcoma LIM-protein). This is the first clear examp le of a DRAL homolog in an invertebrate. Detectable developmental expr ession begins at the gastrula stage in the epidermis, but not in the n euroectoderm; thus the early stages of AmphiDRAL expression indicate t he neural/non-neural boundary. During subsequent embryonic stages, exp ression continues in the epidermis (but not in the developing central nervous system) until it fades during the later larval stages. (C) 199 8 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.