Cloning, expression analysis, and chromosomal localization of murine and human homologues of a Xenopus mix gene.

We report the cloning and chromosomal localization of murine and human Mix genes, members of a subclass of paired-like homeobox genes of which the Xenopus laevis Mix.1 gene is the founding member. The murine Mix gene was mapped to the distal region of chromosome 1 and the human region to the syntenic region 1q41-42. Northern analysis and RT-PCR of murine adult and embryonic tissues demonstrated that Mix expression was restricted to the early embryo. Whole-mount in situ hybridization revealed patchy but symmetrical Mix expression in visceral endoderm of embryonic day (E)5.5 embryos. In slightly older embryos, the expression was skewed to one side of the embryo and by E6.5, at the onset of gastrulation, expression was seen in the epiblast, visceral endoderm, nascent mesoderm, and the primitive streak. This expression pattern was maintained in mid- and late-streak embryos. In early bud-stage embryos, expression was strongest in the proximal two thirds of the streak, extending to the base of the allantois. By the headfold-stage, expression was confined to the remnant of the primitive streak in the caudal region of the embryo and, after E8.0, in the caudal notochord and tail bud mesoderm. Mix transcripts were no longer detectable after embryonic day 9.5.