Abstract
The Deformed gene of Drosophila is necessary for the proper development of epidermal pattern elements arising from the maxillary and mandibular segments of the head. We find one major transcript (2.8 kb) homologous to Deformed (Dfd) probes which is expressed continuously from 3 h of embryogenesis into adulthood. Localized transcript accumulation is first detected just prior to the formation of the cellular blastoderm in a single circumferential band at about 65-75% egg length. The zone of Dfd expression is approximately two segment primordia in width. At later stages of embryogenesis, Dfd transcripts accumulate in the posterior ectoderm of the mandibular segment, and in the ventro-lateral ectoderm of the maxillary segment. Transcripts are also detected in the mesoderm and neuromeres of the mandibular and maxillary segments. The distribution of Dfd transcripts supports the hypothesis that Dfd functions as a homeotic selector gene in the determination of posterior head segments.
Keywords: homeotic genes, Deformed, expression
Full text
PDF![779](https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/57d3/553463/0223ffdfee32/emboj00243-0226.png)
![780](https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/57d3/553463/4a18ebb88070/emboj00243-0227.png)
![781](https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/57d3/553463/2828646f08cc/emboj00243-0228.png)
![782](https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/57d3/553463/d5eb084804f9/emboj00243-0229.png)
![783](https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/57d3/553463/f2a86160c6f2/emboj00243-0230.png)
![784](https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/57d3/553463/0c5f535d971f/emboj00243-0231.png)
![785](https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/57d3/553463/714ef7ccc7e0/emboj00243-0232.png)
![786](https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/57d3/553463/b3858b5fb00e/emboj00243-0233.png)
![787](https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/57d3/553463/a42c7c2fc67a/emboj00243-0234.png)
![788](https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/57d3/553463/9bef365915b0/emboj00243-0235.png)
![789](https://cdn.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/blobs/57d3/553463/c0371f0e2d5f/emboj00243-0236.png)
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Akam M. E., Martinez-Arias A. The distribution of Ultrabithorax transcripts in Drosophila embryos. EMBO J. 1985 Jul;4(7):1689–1700. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb03838.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Akam M. E. The location of Ultrabithorax transcripts in Drosophila tissue sections. EMBO J. 1983;2(11):2075–2084. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1983.tb01703.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cox K. H., DeLeon D. V., Angerer L. M., Angerer R. C. Detection of mrnas in sea urchin embryos by in situ hybridization using asymmetric RNA probes. Dev Biol. 1984 Feb;101(2):485–502. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(84)90162-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- DiNardo S., Kuner J. M., Theis J., O'Farrell P. H. Development of embryonic pattern in D. melanogaster as revealed by accumulation of the nuclear engrailed protein. Cell. 1985 Nov;43(1):59–69. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90012-1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Eberlein S., Russell M. A. Effects of deficiencies in the engrailed region of Drosophila melanogaster. Dev Biol. 1983 Nov;100(1):227–237. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(83)90215-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Foe V. E., Alberts B. M. Studies of nuclear and cytoplasmic behaviour during the five mitotic cycles that precede gastrulation in Drosophila embryogenesis. J Cell Sci. 1983 May;61:31–70. doi: 10.1242/jcs.61.1.31. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Fyrberg E. A., Mahaffey J. W., Bond B. J., Davidson N. Transcripts of the six Drosophila actin genes accumulate in a stage- and tissue-specific manner. Cell. 1983 May;33(1):115–123. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90340-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Garber R. L., Kuroiwa A., Gehring W. J. Genomic and cDNA clones of the homeotic locus Antennapedia in Drosophila. EMBO J. 1983;2(11):2027–2036. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1983.tb01696.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gehring W. Clonal analysis of determination dynamics in cultures of imaginal disks in Drosophila melanogaster. Dev Biol. 1967 Nov;16(5):438–456. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(67)90058-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hafen E., Kuroiwa A., Gehring W. J. Spatial distribution of transcripts from the segmentation gene fushi tarazu during Drosophila embryonic development. Cell. 1984 Jul;37(3):833–841. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90418-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hafen E., Levine M., Garber R. L., Gehring W. J. An improved in situ hybridization method for the detection of cellular RNAs in Drosophila tissue sections and its application for localizing transcripts of the homeotic Antennapedia gene complex. EMBO J. 1983;2(4):617–623. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1983.tb01472.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hayes P. H., Sato T., Denell R. E. Homoeosis in Drosophila: the ultrabithorax larval syndrome. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Jan;81(2):545–549. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.2.545. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hazelrigg T., Kaufman T. C. Revertants of Dominant Mutations Associated with the Antennapedia Gene Complex of DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER: Cytology and Genetics. Genetics. 1983 Nov;105(3):581–600. doi: 10.1093/genetics/105.3.581. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Janning W. Gynandromorph fate maps in Drosophila. Results Probl Cell Differ. 1978;9:1–28. doi: 10.1007/978-3-540-35803-9_1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Karch F., Weiffenbach B., Peifer M., Bender W., Duncan I., Celniker S., Crosby M., Lewis E. B. The abdominal region of the bithorax complex. Cell. 1985 Nov;43(1):81–96. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90014-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kaufman T. C., Lewis R., Wakimoto B. Cytogenetic Analysis of Chromosome 3 in DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER: The Homoeotic Gene Complex in Polytene Chromosome Interval 84a-B. Genetics. 1980 Jan;94(1):115–133. doi: 10.1093/genetics/94.1.115. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kornberg T. Engrailed: a gene controlling compartment and segment formation in Drosophila. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Feb;78(2):1095–1099. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.2.1095. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lawrence P. A., Morata G. Compartments in the wing of Drosophila: a study of the engrailed gene. Dev Biol. 1976 Jun;50(2):321–337. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(76)90155-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Levine M., Hafen E., Garber R. L., Gehring W. J. Spatial distribution of Antennapedia transcripts during Drosophila development. EMBO J. 1983;2(11):2037–2046. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1983.tb01697.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lewis E. B. A gene complex controlling segmentation in Drosophila. Nature. 1978 Dec 7;276(5688):565–570. doi: 10.1038/276565a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lewis R. A., Wakimoto B. T., Denell R. E., Kaufman T. C. Genetic Analysis of the Antennapedia Gene Complex (Ant-C) and Adjacent Chromosomal Regions of DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER. II. Polytene Chromosome Segments 84A-84B1,2. Genetics. 1980 Jun;95(2):383–397. doi: 10.1093/genetics/95.2.383. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lohs-Schardin M., Cremer C., Nüsslein-Volhard C. A fate map for the larval epidermis of Drosophila melanogaster: localized cuticle defects following irradiation of the blastoderm with an ultraviolet laser microbeam. Dev Biol. 1979 Dec;73(2):239–255. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(79)90065-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Martinez-Arias A., Lawrence P. A. Parasegments and compartments in the Drosophila embryo. Nature. 1985 Feb 21;313(6004):639–642. doi: 10.1038/313639a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- McGinnis W., Garber R. L., Wirz J., Kuroiwa A., Gehring W. J. A homologous protein-coding sequence in Drosophila homeotic genes and its conservation in other metazoans. Cell. 1984 Jun;37(2):403–408. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90370-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- McGinnis W., Levine M. S., Hafen E., Kuroiwa A., Gehring W. J. A conserved DNA sequence in homoeotic genes of the Drosophila Antennapedia and bithorax complexes. 1984 Mar 29-Apr 4Nature. 308(5958):428–433. doi: 10.1038/308428a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ouweneel W. J. Normal and abnormal determination in the imaginal discs of Drosophila, with special reference to the eye discs. Acta Embryol Exp (Palermo) 1970;1(0):95–119. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Regulski M., Harding K., Kostriken R., Karch F., Levine M., McGinnis W. Homeo box genes of the Antennapedia and bithorax complexes of Drosophila. Cell. 1985 Nov;43(1):71–80. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90013-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Regulski M., McGinnis N., Chadwick R., McGinnis W. Developmental and molecular analysis of Deformed; a homeotic gene controlling Drosophila head development. EMBO J. 1987 Mar;6(3):767–777. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb04819.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Scott M. P., Weiner A. J. Structural relationships among genes that control development: sequence homology between the Antennapedia, Ultrabithorax, and fushi tarazu loci of Drosophila. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Jul;81(13):4115–4119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.13.4115. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sánchez-Herrero E., Vernós I., Marco R., Morata G. Genetic organization of Drosophila bithorax complex. Nature. 1985 Jan 10;313(5998):108–113. doi: 10.1038/313108a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Turner F. R., Mahowald A. P. Scanning electron microscopy of Drosophila melanogaster embryogenesis. II. Gastrulation and segmentation. Dev Biol. 1977 Jun;57(2):403–416. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(77)90225-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Turner F. R., Mahowald A. P. Scanning electron microscopy of Drosophila melanogaster embryogenesis. III. Formation of the head and caudal segments. Dev Biol. 1979 Jan;68(1):96–109. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(79)90246-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Underwood E. M., Turner F. R., Mahowald A. P. Analysis of cell movements and fate mapping during early embryogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster. Dev Biol. 1980 Feb;74(2):286–301. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(80)90431-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wakimoto B. T., Turner F. R., Kaufman T. C. Defects in embryogenesis in mutants associated with the antennapedia gene complex of Drosophila melanogaster. Dev Biol. 1984 Mar;102(1):147–172. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(84)90182-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Weir M. P., Kornberg T. Patterns of engrailed and fushi tarazu transcripts reveal novel intermediate stages in Drosophila segmentation. Nature. 1985 Dec 5;318(6045):433–439. doi: 10.1038/318433a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wharton K. A., Yedvobnick B., Finnerty V. G., Artavanis-Tsakonas S. opa: a novel family of transcribed repeats shared by the Notch locus and other developmentally regulated loci in D. melanogaster. Cell. 1985 Jan;40(1):55–62. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90308-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]