Homeobox genes encode a large family of homeodomain proteins in animal systems. To test whether such genes are also abundant in higher plants, degenerate oligonucleotides complementary to sequences encoding the recognition helix (helix three) of the homeodomain were used to screen genomic and cDNA libraries from the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Analysis of 8 of the 41 cDNAs isolated revealed that each encodes a presumptive homeodomain; interestingly, most of these clones also contain a leucine zipper motif tightly linked to the homeodomain. It is concluded that Arabidopsis encodes a large family of homeodomain proteins, including members that contain a homeodomain/leucine-zipper (HD-Zip) motif.
