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Antennapedia is a HOM-C gene first discovered in ''Drosophila'' which controls the formation of legs during development. Loss-of-function mutations in the regulatory region of this gene result in the development of the second leg pair into ectopic antennae. By contrast gain-of-function alleles convert antennae into ectopic legs. This is just one illustration of the tendency of organisms to exhibit variations on a theme, modulated repetition. Legs and antennae are related to one another as much as molars are to incisors, fingers are to toes, and arms are to legs. Antennapedia also refers to a gene complex in ''Drosophila'' which is responsible for formation and differentiation of the thoracic and head segments of the fly's body. ==Origin of Antennapedia Class Homeobox Gene== The origin of the ancestor Homeobox gene is an important aspect of the evolution of the Antp-class Hox genes. Early evolution of the Antp-class genes may have predated the divergence of Cnidarians. However, the role that Antp plays in the spatial body development of Cnidarians remains unclear. A widely accepted theory is that the ancestor Hox cluster containing three genes arose in the early metazoan era. It is suggested that Antennapedia arose from Evx, a non-Hox family of genes. This duplication event of Evx into the Antp-class probably occurred prior to Cnidarian divergence, as there are Cnidarians with Evx and without Hox class genes and vice versa. 〔Gauchat D, Mazet F, Berney C, Schummer M, Kreger S, Pawlowski J and Galliot B. Evolution of Antp-Class Genes and Differential Expression of Hydra Hox/ParaHox Genes in Anterior Patterning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 97, No. 9 (Apr. 25, 2000), pp. 4493-4498〕 ==Antennapedia in Arachnids== Recent studies have observed that down-regulation of the Antp gene in Achaearanea tepidariorum leads to the development of a pair of ectopic legs, resulting in 10-legged mutant spiders. Drosophila Antp is thought to play an important role in the role of ectopic leg or antenna placement, but not in abdominal leg suppression. However, recent research supported that leg suppression was indeed performed by Antp in arachnids.〔Sara Khadjeh, Natascha Turetzek, Matthias Pechmann, Evelyn E. Schwager, Ernst A. Wimmer, Wim G. M. Damen, and Nikola-Michael Prpic Divergent role of the Hox gene Antennapedia in spiders is responsible for the convergent evolution of abdominal limb repression PNAS 2012 109 (13) 4921-4926; published ahead of print March 15, 2012, doi:10.1073/pnas.1116421109〕 This suggests that spiders and insects may have separately developed strategies of leg suppression via the evolutionary pressure of convergence. Arachnid’s Antp gene is different from other Antp Hox clusters, suggesting that it has evolved via a divergence event leading to the development on the leg suppression function. This example suggests how the functions of homeobox genes including Antp have evolved overtime to account for different lineages’ needs.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Antennapedia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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