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. 1994 Aug 1;13(15):3505–3516. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1994.tb06657.x

The Broad-Complex directly controls a tissue-specific response to the steroid hormone ecdysone at the onset of Drosophila metamorphosis.

L von Kalm 1, K Crossgrove 1, D Von Seggern 1, G M Guild 1, S K Beckendorf 1
PMCID: PMC395254  PMID: 8062827

Abstract

In Drosophila, all of the major metamorphic transitions are regulated by changes in the titer of the steroid hormone ecdysone. Here we examine how a key regulator of metamorphosis and primary ecdysone response gene, the Broad-Complex, transmits the hormonal signal to one of its targets, the Sgs-4 glue gene. We show that Broad-Complex RNAs accumulate in mid third instar larval salivary glands prior to Sgs-4 induction, as expected for the products of a gene that regulates the timing of Sgs-4 activation. The Broad-Complex codes for a family of zinc finger transcriptional regulators. We have identified a number of binding sites for these proteins in sequences known to regulate the timing of Sgs-4 induction, and have used these sites to derive a binding consensus for each protein. Some of these binding sites are required in vivo for Sgs-4 activity. In addition, rbp+, a genetically defined Broad-Complex function that is required for Sgs-4 induction, acts through these Broad-Complex binding sites. Thus, the Broad-Complex directly mediates a temporal and tissue-specific response to ecdysone as larvae become committed to metamorphosis.

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