The Bar homeobox genes play an essential role during nervous system and eye development in Drosophila. We isolated a medaka Bar gene closely related to the Drosophila and mammalian Bar genes. In the medaka embryo, OlBar is expressed from gastrula stages onwards, in a region demarcating the presumptive prosencephalic-mesencephalic boundary. Later in development, OlBar transcripts are found in populations of differentiating neuronal cells of the brain and the retina.
Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.