Wnt3a^vt

Examination of the Wnt3a gene by Southern blot, Northern blot on adult lung tissue and cDNA sequence analysis revealed no sign of an obvious mutation that could account for a mutant phenotype. However, this mutation and a targeted mutation, Wnt3atm1Amc, were demonstrated to be noncomplemeting alleles. Further evidence from whole mount in situ hybridization studies on embryos demonstrated that expression of the encoded protein is reduced in homozygous embryos, suggesting that this hypomorphic allele results from a mutation in a regulatory element. (J:31335)