Neoceratodus forsteri embryonic RNA-seq

Hox genes play an essential role in the development of paired appendages of vertebrates and changes in their regulation have been implied in the transition from fins to limbs. Hox gene expression has been best characterized in amniotes and in actinopterygian (ray-finned) fishes, both of which occupy phylogenetic positions very distant from the fin to limb transition. We have reinvestigated Hox gene expression in the paired appendages of two species likely to preserve more ancestral Sarcopterygian characters, namely the Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri) and a urodele amphibian, the axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum).