Аннотация:The germes gene is a marker of germ plasm and primordial germ cells (PGC). It is described for theAfrican clawed frog Xenopus laevis. Overexpression of its mutant form negatively affects the formation andmigration of PGC. However, it was unknown until now how widely this gene is represented in animals of differentphylogenetic groups. For this work, the authors performed bioinformatic analysis of genomic and transcriptomesequences of animals with germ plasm. We found out that the germes homologs are present only inrepresentatives of the genera Xenopus and Hymenochirus of the family Pipidae (order Anura). The obtainedresults were confirmed by RT-PCR analysis of the expression of the germes orthologs in the ovaries of six representativesof different Anura families. Phylogenetic analysis of cloned sequences of the germes homologssuggests the appearance of this gene in the ancestors of Pipidae and its secondary loss in the genus Pseudohymenochirus.It is also shown that the amino acid sequences of the functional domains of the Germes proteinare rather conservative.