Expression of tbx20 RNA during chick heart development.

The T-box gene family encodes a set of transcription factors that are involved in various developmental processes. We isolated tbx20 gene from chick embryos and examined in detail its expression patterns during heart development. In situ hybridization showed that tbx20 was expressed in the lateral plate mesoderm and subsequently in the primitive heart tube. At stages of looped heart, tbx20 was localized in the outflow tract (OT) and atrioventricular (AV) canal, in which valvuloseptal endocardial cushion develops. At later stages, although tbx20 was expressed predominantly in the nascent right ventricle, transcripts of tbx20 were down-regulated in the left ventricle. These results suggest that tbx20 may play important roles in a variety of developmental processes in cardiogenesis, such as chamber-specification and septation.