Nucleotide sequence of the histone gene cluster in the coral Acropora formosa (Cnidaria ; Scleractinia) : features of histone gene structure and organization are common to diploblastic and triploblastic metazoans

We report the nucleotide sequence of the core histone gene cluster from the Cnidarian Acropora formosa. This is the first histone gene cluster to be sequenced from a diploblastic organism and the predicted amino acid sequences most resemble those of sea urchin equivalents. Each of the Cnidarian histone genes has two conserved regions 3' of the coding sequences and these closely resemble those of the metazoan alpha-class histone genes. In A. formosa the core histone genes are arranged as opposed (H3/H4 and H2A/H2B) pairs, a pattern common to the nondeuterostome metazoa, and tandem repetition is the predominant pattern of organization in the Cnidarian. With the recent identification of several classes of homeobox genes in Cnidarians these features clearly align the Cnidaria with triploblastic metazoans, supporting a monophyletic origin of the metazoa.