Cdx

The Cdx gene family, also called caudal genes, are a group of genes found in many animal genomes. Cdx genes contain a homeobox DNA sequence and code for proteins that act as transcription factors. The gene after which the gene family is named (the founding member) is the caudal or cad gene of the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster.^[1][2] The human genome has three Cdx genes, called CDX1, CDX2 and CDX4. The zebrafish has no cdx2 gene, but two copies of cdx1 and one copy of cdx4.^[3] The Cdx gene in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is called pal-1.^[4] In many animals, the Cdx gene is part of a ParaHox gene cluster.^[5]

References

1. ↑ Mlodzik, M., Fjose, A. and Gehring, W.J. (1985). Isolation of caudal, a Drosophila homeobox-containing gene with maternal expression, whose transcription form a concentration gradient at the pre-blastoderm stage. EMBO J. 4: 2961-296
2. ↑ "FlyBase cad gene". Retrieved 7 Dec 2012. 
3. ↑ Mulley, J.F., Chiu, C.-H. and Holland, P.W.H. (2006) Break-up of a homeobox gene cluster after genome duplication in teleosts. PNAS 103: 10369-10372.
4. ↑ Baugh, L. R., et al. (2005). The homeodomain protein PAL-1 specifies a lineage-specific regulatory network in the C. elegans embryo. Development 132(8): 1843-54
5. ↑ Brooke et al 1998 Nature 392: 920-922. PMID 9582071