Genetic control of bristle pattern formation in Drosophila melanogaster

The Drosophila melanogaster wing is a model system for analyzing the genetic control of organ size, shape, and pattern formation. The formation of the wing involves a variety of processes, such as cell growth, proliferation, pattern formation, and differentiation. These developmental processes are under genetic control, and many genes participating in specific aspects of wing development have already being characterized. In this work, we aim to identify novel genes regulating wing growth and patterning. To this end, we have carried out a gain-of-function screen generating novel P-UAS (upstream activating sequences) insertions allowing forced gene expression. We produced 3340 novel P-UAS insertions and isolated 300 that cause a variety of wing phenotypes in combination with a Gal4 driver expressed exclusively in the central domain of the presumptive wing blade. The mapping of these P-UAS insertion sites allowed us to identify the gene that causes the gain-of-function phenotypes. We show that a fraction of these phenotypes are related to the induction of cell death in the domain of ectopic gene expression. Finally, we present a preliminary characterization of a gene identified in the screen, the function of which is required for the development of the L5 longitudinal vein.

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Genetic control of cell morphogenesis during Drosophila melanogaster cardiac tube formation.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.1123913.581014 ◽

2008 ◽

Author(s):

Salim Abdelilah-Seyfried

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Genetic Control ◽

Tube Formation ◽

Cell Morphogenesis

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Bristle Pattern in Scute Stocks of Drosophila melanogaster

The American Naturalist ◽

10.1086/282346 ◽

1965 ◽

Vol 99 (904) ◽

pp. 25-32 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

J. M. Rendel

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Bristle Pattern

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Comparative approaches to the study of physiology: Drosophila as a physiological tool

AJP Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology ◽

10.1152/ajpregu.00084.2012 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 304 (3) ◽

pp. R177-R188 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Wendi S. Neckameyer ◽

Kathryn J. Argue

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Pattern Formation ◽

Signaling Pathways ◽

Human Disease ◽

Cognitive Disorders ◽

Model System ◽

Critical Questions ◽

Developmental Signaling ◽

Shed Light

Numerous studies have detailed the extensive conservation of developmental signaling pathways between the model system, Drosophila melanogaster, and mammalian models, but researchers have also profited from the unique and highly tractable genetic tools available in this system to address critical questions in physiology. In this review, we have described contributions that Drosophila researchers have made to mathematical dynamics of pattern formation, cardiac pathologies, the way in which pain circuits are integrated to elicit responses from sensation, as well as the ways in which gene expression can modulate diverse behaviors and shed light on human cognitive disorders. The broad and diverse array of contributions from Drosophila underscore its translational relevance to modeling human disease.

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Structure of the insect head as revealed by the EN protein pattern in developing embryos

Development ◽

10.1242/dev.122.11.3419 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 122 (11) ◽

pp. 3419-3432 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

B.T. Rogers ◽

T.C. Kaufman

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Pattern Formation ◽

Protein Pattern ◽

Related Protein ◽

Specific Expression ◽

Tissue Specific Expression ◽

Single Segment ◽

Dorsal Ridge ◽

Insect Embryos ◽

Comparative Embryology

The structure of the insect head has long been a topic of enjoyable yet endless debate among entomologists. More recently geneticists and molecular biologists trying to better understand the structure of the head of the Dipteran Drosophila melanogaster have joined the discourse extrapolating from what they have learned about Drosophila to insects in general. Here we present the results of an investigation into the structure of the insect head as revealed by the distribution of engrailed related protein (Engrailed) in the insect orders Diptera, Siphonaptera, Orthoptera and Hemiptera. The results of this comparative embryology in conjunction with genetic experiments on Drosophila melanogaster lead us to conclude: (1) The insect head is composed of six Engrailed accumulating segments, four postoral and two preoral. The potential seventh and eighth segments (clypeus or labrum) do not accumulate Engrailed. (2) The structure known as the dorsal ridge is not specific to the Diptera but is homologous to structures found in other insect orders. (3) A part of this structure is a single segment-like entity composed of labial and maxillary segment derivatives which produce the most anterior cuticle capable of taking a dorsal fate. The segments anterior to the maxillary segment produce only ventral structures. (4) As in Drosophila, the process of segmentation of the insect head is fundamentally different from the process of segmentation in the trunk. (5) The pattern of Engrailed accumulation and its presumed role in the specification and development of head segments appears to be highly conserved while its role in other pattern formation events and tissue-specific expression is variable. An overview of the pattern of Engrailed accumulation in developing insect embryos provides a basis for discussion of the generality of the parasegment and the evolution of Engrailed patterns.

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Genetic control of adult lifespan in Drosophila melanogaster

Experimental Gerontology ◽

10.1016/0531-5565(85)90034-8 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 20 (3-4) ◽

pp. 171-177 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Malcolm B. Baird ◽

Joseph Liszczynskyj

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Genetic Control ◽

Adult Lifespan

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Stripes of positional homologies across the wing blade of Drosophila melanogaster

Development ◽

10.1242/dev.103.2.391 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 103 (2) ◽

pp. 391-401 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

P. Simpson ◽

M. El Messal ◽

J. Moscoso del Prado ◽

P. Ripoll

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Pattern Formation ◽

Epidermal Cell ◽

Correct Decision ◽

Dorsoventral Axis ◽

Anteroposterior Axis ◽

Different Types

Clones of cells mutant for shaggy transform all hairs into bristles on the wing blade of Drosophila. Different types of bristles are formed at different locations. It is shown that, although shaggy cells are unable to make a correct decision between an epidermal cell pathway and that of a sensory bristle, they are nevertheless able to respond correctly to positional cues. A compilation of many clones led to the construction of a map of positional homologies in which all of the cells in any one area will produce the same kind of bristle. The result is a series of stripes oriented perpendicular to the anteroposterior axis of the wing and parallel to the dorsoventral axis. The significance of these stripes in relation to mechanisms of pattern formation is discussed.

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The spatial organization of epidermal structures: hairy establishes the geometrical pattern of Drosophila leg bristles by delimiting the domains of achaete expression

Development ◽

10.1242/dev.118.1.9 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 118 (1) ◽

pp. 9-20 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

T.V. Orenic ◽

L.I. Held ◽

S.W. Paddock ◽

S.B. Carroll

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Spatial Organization ◽

Expression Patterns ◽

Cell Types ◽

Precursor Cells ◽

Geometrical Pattern ◽

Leg Development ◽

Puparium Formation ◽

Late Expression ◽

Bristle Pattern

The spatial organization of Drosophila melanogaster epidermal structures in embryos and adults constitutes a classic model system for understanding how the two dimensional arrangement of particular cell types is generated. For example, the legs of the Drosophila melanogaster adult are covered with bristles, which in most segments are arranged in longitudinal rows. Here we elucidate the key roles of two regulatory genes, hairy and achaete, in setting up this periodic bristle pattern. We show that achaete is expressed during pupal leg development in a dynamic pattern which changes, by approximately 6 hours after puparium formation, into narrow longitudinal stripes of 3–4 cells in width, each of which represents a field of cells (proneural field) from which bristle precursor cells are selected. This pattern of gene expression foreshadows the adult bristle pattern and is established in part through the function of the hairy gene, which also functions in patterning other adult sense organs. In pupal legs, hairy is expressed in four longitudinal stripes, located between every other pair of achaete stripes. We show that in the absence of hairy function achaete expression expands into the interstripe regions that normally express hairy, fusing the two achaete stripes and resulting in extra-wide stripes of achaete expression. This misexpression of achaete, in turn, alters the fields of potential bristle precursor cells which leads to the misalignment of bristle rows in the adult. This function of hairy in patterning achaete expression is distinct from that in the wing in which hairy suppresses late expression of achaete but has no effect on the initial patterning of achaete expression. Thus, the leg bristle pattern is apparently regulated at two levels: a global regulation of the hairy and achaete expression patterns which partitions the leg epidermis into striped zones (this study) and a local regulation (inferred from other studies on the selection of neural precursor cells) that involves refinement steps which may control the alignment and spacing of bristle cells within these zones.

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