Region-specific regulation of the actin multi-gene family in early amphibian embryos

Abstract
The actin multi-gene family shows both spatial and tem poral regulation during early embryogenesis in the am phibian Xenopus laevis . Both muscle-specific and ubiquitous cytoskeletal actin genes are activated at the end of gastrulation; transcription of the α-cardiac and α-skeletal actin genes is restricted to the somitic mesoderm and its muscle-forming derivatives providing a convenient molecular marker for this early embryonic tissue.