Combinatorial expression of three zebrafish genes related to distal-less: part of a homeobox gene code for the head.

We describe analysis of zebrafish distal-less-related homeobox genes that may serve as specifiers of positional information in anterior regions of the CNS and in peripheral structures. We isolated three zebrafish genes, dlx2, dlx3, and dlx4, by screening embryonic cDNA libraries. Comparisons of the predicted sequences of the Dlx2, Dlx3, and Dlx4 proteins with distal-less proteins from other species suggest that vertebrate distal-less genes can be divided into four orthologous groups. We observed similarities but also unique features of the expression patterns of the zebrafish dlx genes. Among the three genes, dlx3 alone is expressed during gastrulation. Shortly after gastrulation, cells in the ventral forebrain rudiment express dlx2 and dlx4, but not dlx3, and hindbrain neural crest cells express only dlx2. Presumptive precursor cells of the olfactory placodes express dlx3 and dlx4 but not dlx2. Transcripts of dlx3 and dlx4 are present in overlapping subsets of cells in the auditory vesicle and in cells of the median fin fold, whereas dlx2 is never expressed in the auditory vesicle and only at low levels in localized regions of the median fin fold. Cells of the visceral arches and their primordia express all three dlx genes, but with different developmental time courses. We suggest that combinatorial expression of the dlx genes is part of a homeobox gene code specifying pattern formation or cell fate determination in the forebrain, in peripheral structures of the head, and in the fins.