The Xenopus bagpipe-related homeobox gene zampogna is expressed in the pharyngeal endoderm and the visceral musculature of the midgut

In Drosophila, the bagpipe homeobox gene is expressed in a subset of dorsal mesodermal cells and in the absence of bagpipe gene function, development of the visceral musculature is disrupted. In Xenopus, one bagpipe-related gene, Xbagpipe (Xbap) has previously been described. Here we report the isolation of a second Xenopus homologue named zampogna (zax). zax is transcribed within the muscular layer of the forming midgut as well as in the embryonic head, where zax transcripts mark both the pharyngeal endoderm and the future infrarostral cartilage.