Isolation of Hox and ParaHox genes in the bivalve Pecten maximus

The Hox cluster genes encode a set of transcription factors that have been shown to control spatial patterning mechanisms in bilaterian organism development. The ParaHox cluster is the evolutionary sister of the Hox cluster. The two are believed to descend from an ancestral ProtoHox cluster of four genes from which the three ParaHox genes (Gsx, Xlox, and Cdx) and the four Hox gene classes are believed to have originated. Although molluscs are...