Identification of twoetsrelated genes in a marine worm, the polychaete annelidNereis diversicolor

Abstract
The ETS family includes a growing number of transcription factors with a highly conserved DNA-binding domain, the ETS domain. We have used PCR amplification with degenerated oligonucleotides to isolate two putative ETS DNA-binding coding domains in a primitive form of cœlomate, the polychaete annelid Nereis diversicolor. These sequences are highly related to the ETS and ERG groups of the ets gene family. For the erg sequence an adjacent region encoding for 91 amino acids has been characterized after library screening, and we show an expression in cells isolated from the cœlomic cavity of the animal. A phylogenic analysis confirms that the ets-1/ets-2 and the erg/fli dichotomy arose specifically in the vertebrate lineage