Characterization of cryptic components of the ancestral vertebrate genome

.................................................................................................................... 7 Zusammenfassung ................................................................................................... 9 List of Figures ......................................................................................................... 13 List of Tables .......................................................................................................... 14 General introduction .............................................................................................. 15 Chapter I .................................................................................................................. 21 Revisiting the origin of the vertebrate Hox14 by including its relict sarcopterygian members ....................................................................................... 21 Abstract ................................................................................................................. 22................................................................................................................ 22 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 22 Materials and methods .......................................................................................... 25 Results .................................................................................................................. 29 Discussion ............................................................................................................. 37 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................. 40 Chapter II ................................................................................................................. 41 Co-orthology of Pax4 and Pax6 to the fly eyeless gene: molecular phylogenetic, comparative genomic and embryological analyses ............................................ 41 Abstract ................................................................................................................. 42................................................................................................................ 42 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 42 Materials and methods .......................................................................................... 45 Results .................................................................................................................. 49 Discussion ............................................................................................................. 57 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................. 62 Chapter III ................................................................................................................ 63 A novel Pax4/6 relative, Pax10, reveals a cryptic pan-vertebrate gene repertoire ................................................................................................................................. 63 Abstract ................................................................................................................. 64................................................................................................................ 64 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 64 Results .................................................................................................................. 68 Discussion ............................................................................................................. 77  85 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................. 89