不管它是一種祝?；蚴且环N詛咒,，無毛品種的犬肯定會(huì)在群體中引人注目。它們?cè)诠糯踔帘话⑵澟_(tái)克人視作是神圣的動(dòng)物,，而這些犬的雕像可以追溯到公元前1700 年,。如今，它們的DNA 正幫助研究人員能夠更好地理解發(fā)育生物學(xué)的各個(gè)方面,。
在本期的Science中,， Cord Drögemüller 及其同僚找到了引起“無毛”特性的基因，該基因不但與毛發(fā)稀疏（或缺如）有關(guān),，而且還與牙齒異常有關(guān),。研究人員對(duì)中國(guó)冠毛犬以及墨西哥和秘魯?shù)臒o毛犬品種進(jìn)行了研究并找到了一個(gè)被稱作FOXI3 的公認(rèn)的轉(zhuǎn)錄因子基因中的涉嫌突變。他們發(fā)現(xiàn),，在小鼠的胚胎中,，F(xiàn)OXI3基因表達(dá)在那些產(chǎn)生出毛、須和牙齒的組織中,，這與該基因在這些器官中的發(fā)育所起的作用是一致的,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Science 12 September 2008:Vol. 321. no. 5895, p. 1462 DOI: 10.1126/science.1162525
Mutations in a transcription factor gene involved in ectodermal development cause a lack of hair and abnormal teeth in Chinese Crested, Mexican, and Peruvian hairless dogs.
Cord Drögemüller, Elinor K. Karlsson, Marjo K. Hytönen, Michele Perloski, Gaudenz Dolf, Kirsi Sainio, Hannes Lohi, Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, and Tosso Leeb
Mexican and Peruvian hairless dogs and Chinese crested dogs are characterized by missing hair and teeth, a phenotype termed canine ectodermal dysplasia (CED). CED is inherited as a monogenic autosomal semidominant trait. With genomewide association analysis we mapped the CED mutation to a 102–kilo–base pair interval on chromosome 17. The associated interval contains a previously uncharacterized member of the forkhead box transcription factor family (FOXI3), which is specifically expressed in developing hair and teeth. Mutation analysis revealed a frameshift mutation within the FOXI3 coding sequence in hairless dogs. Thus, we have identified FOXI3 as a regulator of ectodermal development.
