We have cloned and sequenced the cDNAs for quail cornea proteoglycan core proteins, decorin and lumican. Comparison of deduced amino acid sequences shows that two of five amino acid differences in the mature protein between quail and chick decorin, and two of three for lumican, are non-conservative. Ribonuclease protection assay of Day 16 embryonic quail tissues reveals that decorin and lumican are most highly expressed in cornea, and that both are also highly expressed at approximately equal levels in most other tissues. Decorin is highly expressed in sclera and sternum, whereas lumican is expressed in these tissues, as well as in liver, at very low levels. Both decorin and lumican are expressed at lowest levels in brain.