Embryonic expression patterns of panarthropod Sox genes. Panarthropod Sox genes

This study provides for the first time a comprehensive analysis of embryonic expression patterns of Sox genes in arthropods, the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, and the pill millipede Glomeris marginata, and the first data on Sox gene expression in an onychophoran, Euperipatoides kanangrensis. Despite the importance that Sox genes play in animal development, relatively little is known about their expression patterns and thus possible function(s) during ontogenesis. The new data reveal that the expression and implied function of Sox genes is highly conserved in arthropods and their closest relatives, the onychophorans. Sox B and C class genes appear to be crucial for nervous system development, while the Sox B gene Dichaete (D) likely plays a conserved function in panarthropod segmentation. The data further suggest that Sox D and E genes are involved in mesoderm differentiation, and that Sox E genes are specific for germ line and/or gonad development.