What does Ubx mean?
Ultrabithorax (Ubx) is a homeobox gene found in insects, and is used in the regulation of patterning in morphogenesis. There are many possible products of this gene, which function as transcription factors.
Is Ubx a transcription factor?
However, how alternative fate genes are lineage-specifically silenced is unclear. We studied Ultrabithorax (Ubx), a multi-lineage transcription factor of the Hox class, in two tissue lineages using sorted nuclei and interfered with Ubx in mesodermal cells.
What does the antennapedia gene control?
Antennapedia (abbreviated Antp) is a Hox gene first discovered in Drosophila which controls the formation of legs during development. Loss-of-function mutations in the regulatory region of this gene result in the development of the second leg pair into ectopic antennae.
What happens when the gene Antennapedia is expressed in the head of the fly?
It is known that overexpressing Antennapedia in the head induces antenna-to-leg as well as head-to-thorax transformation and eye reduction. At present, little is known about the exact molecular mechanism causing these phenotypes.
How does a homeodomain bind to DNA?
The homeodomain binds DNA predominantly through interactions between helix 3 (recognition helix) and the major groove, and base-specific contacts made by positions 47, 50, and 54 are believed to be the main determinants of differences in binding specificity (Laughon, 1991) (Fig.
What does the Antennapedia gene control?
Is Antennapedia dominant or recessive?
Most of the early mutations were dominant – ie only one copy of the mutant gene is required to affect a transformation (e.g. Antennapedia: antenna-to-leg). Later, recessive mutations Antennapedia were discovered, which cause the reverse transformation (leg-to-antenna).
What does a homeodomain do?
The homeodomain is a highly conserved 60‐amino‐acid protein domain that is encoded by the homeobox and is found in organisms as diverse as mammals, insects, plants and yeast. Homeodomains function as DNA binding domains and are found in many transcription factors that control development and cell fate decisions.
Are Homeodomains repressors?
The homeodomain is a repressor domain. In the case of constructs containing an HD, either NK-4 or NK-1 is indicated to the right of the schematic depending on the gene used for construction.