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Genetic control of development inXenopus laevis

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Abstract

In this paper we address the question of how genes can control development by usingXenopus as a model system, since it combines the classical advantages of amphibian embryology with advanced molecular techniques. Several developmental regulator genes have been shown to encode for transcription factors which trigger the activation of downstream genes, thus resulting in a cascade of regulatory events. In the first two examples, we deal with regulatory events that underlie early body patterning in vertebrates, and with the role of homeobox transcription factors in deciphering positional information along the body axis. In the third example, we address the question of the role of post-transcriptional regulation in development by studying the possible regulatory role of a cytoplasmic zinc finger protein, presumably acting through RNA-protein interactions. The general idea is that understanding how genes can control development will hopefully lead to understanding the construction of a shape, and eventually of an organism.

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  1. Laboratori di Biologia Cellulare e dello Sviluppo, Dipartimento di Fisiologia e Biochimica, Università di Pisa, Via Carducci 13, 56010, Ghezzano, Pisa, Italy

    Robert Vignali, Stefania De Lucchini, Boris Kablar & Guiseppina Barsacchi

  2. Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56100, Pisa, Italy

    Stefania De Lucchini

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  1. Robert Vignali
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  2. Stefania De Lucchini
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  3. Boris Kablar
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  4. Guiseppina Barsacchi
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Vignali, R., De Lucchini, S., Kablar, B. et al. Genetic control of development inXenopus laevis . Genetica 94, 235–248 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01443437

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