Relationships between extramacrochaetae and Notch signalling in Drosophila wing development

Development ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 127 (11) ◽  
pp. 2383-2393 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Baonza ◽  
J.F. de Celis ◽  
A. Garcia-Bellido

The function of extramacrochaetae is required during the development of the Drosophila wing in processes such as cell proliferation and vein differentiation. extramacrochaetae encodes a transcription factor of the HLH family, but unlike other members of this family, Extramacrochaetae lacks the basic region that is involved in interaction with DNA. Some phenotypes caused by extramacrochaetae in the wing are similar to those observed when Notch signalling is compromised. Furthermore, maximal levels of extramacrochaetae expression in the wing disc are restricted to places where Notch activity is higher, suggesting that extramacrochaetae could mediate some aspects of Notch signalling during wing development. We have studied the relationships between extramacrochaetae and Notch in wing development, with emphasis on the processes of vein formation and cell proliferation. We observe strong genetic interaction between extramacrochaetae and different components of the Notch signalling pathway, suggesting a functional relationship between them. We show that the higher level of extramacrochaetae expression coincides with the domain of expression of Notch and its downstream gene Enhancer of split-m(beta). The expression of extramacrochaetae at the dorso/ventral boundary and in boundary cells between veins and interveins depends on Notch activity. We propose that at least during vein differentiation and wing margin formation, extramacrochaetae is regulated by Notch and collaborates with other Notch-downstream genes such as Enhancer of split-m(beta).

Development ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 125 (15) ◽  
pp. 2951-2962 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Klein ◽  
A.M. Arias

The Notch signalling pathway plays an important role during the development of the wing primordium, especially of the wing blade and margin. In these processes, the activity of Notch is controlled by the activity of the dorsal specific nuclear protein Apterous, which regulates the expression of the Notch ligand, Serrate, and the Fringe signalling molecule. The other Notch ligand, Delta, also plays a role in the development and patterning of the wing. It has been proposed that Fringe modulates the ability of Serrate and Delta to signal through Notch and thereby restricts Notch signalling to the dorsoventral boundary of the developing wing blade. Here we report the results of experiments aimed at establishing the relationships between Fringe, Serrate and Delta during wing development. We find that Serrate is not required for the initiation of wing development but rather for the expansion and early patterning of the wing primordium. We provide evidence that, at the onset of wing development, Delta is under the control of apterous and might be the Notch ligand in this process. In addition, we find that Fringe function requires Su(H). Our results suggest that Notch signalling during wing development relies on careful balances between positive and dominant negative interactions between Notch ligands, some of which are mediated by Fringe.


Development ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 129 (18) ◽  
pp. 4261-4269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michèle Crozatier ◽  
Bruno Glise ◽  
Alain Vincent

Hedgehog (Hh) signalling from posterior (P) to anterior (A) cells is the primary determinant of AP polarity in the limb field in insects and vertebrates. Hh acts in part by inducing expression of Decapentaplegic (Dpp), but how Hh and Dpp together pattern the central region of the Drosophila wing remains largely unknown. We have re-examined the role played by Collier (Col), a dose-dependent Hh target activated in cells along the AP boundary, the AP organiser in the imaginal wing disc. We found that col mutant wings are smaller than wild type and lack L4 vein, in addition to missing the L3-L4 intervein and mis-positioning of the anterior L3 vein. We link these phenotypes to col requirement for the local upregulation of both emc and N, two genes involved in the control of cell proliferation, the EGFR ligand Vein and the intervein determination gene blistered. We further show that attenuation of Dpp signalling in the AP organiser is also col dependent and, in conjunction with Vein upregulation, required for formation of L4 vein. A model recapitulating the molecular interplay between the Hh, Dpp and EGF signalling pathways in the wing AP organiser is presented.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaochun Wang ◽  
Ziguang Liu ◽  
Li hua Jin

ABSTRACTSummary statementThe novel gene anchor is the ortholog of vertebrate GPR155, which contributes to preventing wing disc tissue overgrowth and limiting the phosphorylation of Mad in presumptive veins during the pupal stage.G protein-coupled receptors play a particularly important function in many organisms. The novel Drosophila gene anchor is the ortholog of vertebrate GPR155, and its molecular function and biological process are not yet known, especially in wing development. Knocking down anchor resulted in increased wing size and extra and thickened veins. These abnormal wing phenotypes are similar to those observed in gain-of-function of BMP signaling experiments. We observed that the BMP signaling indicator p-Mad was significantly increased in anchor RNAi-induced wing discs in larvae and that it also abnormally accumulated in intervein regions in pupae. Furthermore, the expression of BMP signaling pathway target genes were examined using a lacZ reporter, and the results indicated that omb and sal were substantially increased in anchor knockdown wing discs. In a study of genetic interactions between Anchor and BMP signaling pathway, the broadened and ectopic vein tissues were rescued by knocking down BMP levels. The results suggested that the function of Anchor is to negatively regulate BMP signaling during wing development and vein formation, and that Anchor targets or works upstream of Dpp.


Genome ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 612-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Díaz-Benjumea ◽  
M. A. F. González Gaitán ◽  
A. García-Bellido

The developmental study of the wing disc in Drosophila has revealed the progressive appearance of heterogeneities in the anlage formation i.e., of symmetric compartments, of lineage restrictions for vein and intervein regions within compartments, and in mitotic waves. The genetic analysis of alleles in 28 loci that affect vein formation allows us to classify them, according to their phenotypic effects in mutant combinations, in several groups of synergism. These effects include changes in vein differentiation, vein pattern, and growth of the wing anlage. Clonal analyses of mutations of these groups shows that pattern differentiation is associated with changes in cell proliferation dynamics. The study of combinations of mutations from different groups allows us to infer the existence of distinct genetic operations in wing development. A model is presented relating these genetic operations to cell proliferation and cell communication in wing morphogenesis and vein patterning.Key words: pattern formation, morphogenesis, cell proliferation and differentiation.


Development ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 117 (2) ◽  
pp. 509-523 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Fristrom ◽  
M. Wilcox ◽  
J. Fristrom

We first summarize wing development during metamorphosis of Drosophila and identify four critical steps in the conversion of a folded single layered wing disc to a flat bilayered wing. Each step occurs twice, once during the 12 hour prepupal period and again during the 84 hour pupal period. (1) Apposition in which basal surfaces of dorsal and ventral epithelia come close together. (2) Adhesion in which basal junctions form between the apposed basal surfaces. (3) Expansion in which wing area increases as a result of cells flattening. (4) Separation in which dorsal and ventral epithelia are separated by a bulky extracellular matrix but remain connected by slender cytoplasmic processes containing the microtubules and microfilaments of the transalar cytoskeleton. Disc ultrastructure is correlated with the distribution of the beta chain of integrin, laminin A, and filamentous actin for each key stage of pupal development. Integrin and laminin exhibit a mutually exclusive distribution from the adhesion stage onwards. Integrin is present on the basal surface of intervein cells but not on vein cells whereas laminin A is absent from the basal surfaces of intervein cells but is present on vein cells. We conclude that laminin is not a ligand for integrin in this context. During apposition and adhesion stages integrin is broadly distributed over the basal and lateral surfaces of intervein cells but subsequently becomes localized to small basal foci. These foci correspond to basal contact zones between transalar processes. The distribution of filamentous actin is dynamic, changing from an apical distribution during hair morphogenesis to a basal distribution as the transalar cytoskeleton develops. Basal adherens-type junctions are first evident during the adhesion stage and become closely associated with the transalar cytoskeleton during the separation stage. Thus, basal junction formation occurs in two discrete steps; intercellular connections are established first and junction/cytoskeletal connections are formed about 20 hours later. These observations provide a basis for future investigations of integrin mediated adhesion in vivo.


Development ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 128 (5) ◽  
pp. 703-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.D. O'Keefe ◽  
J.B. Thomas

The developing wing disc of Drosophila is divided into distinct lineage-restricted compartments along both the anterior/posterior (A/P) and dorsal/ventral (D/V) axes. At compartment boundaries, morphogenic signals pattern the disc epithelium and direct appropriate outgrowth and differentiation of adult wing structures. The mechanisms by which affinity boundaries are established and maintained, however, are not completely understood. Compartment-specific adhesive differences and inter-compartment signaling have both been implicated in this process. The selector gene apterous (ap) is expressed in dorsal cells of the wing disc and is essential for D/V compartmentalization, wing margin formation, wing outgrowth and dorsal-specific wing structures. To better understand the mechanisms of Ap function and compartment formation, we have rescued aspects of the ap mutant phenotype with genes known to be downstream of Ap. We show that Fringe (Fng), a secreted protein involved in modulation of Notch signaling, is sufficient to rescue D/V compartmentalization, margin formation and wing outgrowth when appropriately expressed in an ap mutant background. When Fng and alphaPS1, a dorsally expressed integrin subunit, are co-expressed, a nearly normal-looking wing is generated. However, these wings are entirely of ventral identity. Our results demonstrate that a number of wing development features, including D/V compartmentalization and wing vein formation, can occur independently of dorsal identity and that inter-compartmental signaling, refined by Fng, plays the crucial role in maintaining the D/V affinity boundary. In addition, it is clear that key functions of the ap selector gene are mediated by only a small number of downstream effectors.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinfeng Wu ◽  
Pavel A. Brodskiy ◽  
Francisco Huizar ◽  
Jamison J. Jangula ◽  
Cody Narciso ◽  
...  

AbstractRecently, organ-scale intercellular Ca2+ transients (ICTs) were reported in the Drosophila wing disc. However, the functional in vivo significance of ICTs remains largely unknown. Here we demonstrate the in vivo relevance of intercellular Ca2+ signaling and its impact on wing development. We report that Ca2+ signaling in vivo decreases as wing discs mature. Ca2+ signaling ex vivo responds to fly extract in a dose-dependent manner. This suggests ICTs occur in vivo due to chemical stimulus that varies in concentration during development. RNAi mediated inhibition of genes required for ICTs results in defects in the size, shape, and vein patterning of adult wings. It also leads to reduction or elimination of in vivo Ca2+ transients. Further, perturbations to the extracellular matrix along the basal side of the wing disc stimulates intercellular Ca2+ waves. This is the first identified chemically defined, non-wounding stimulus of ICTs. Together, these results point toward specific in vivo functions of intercellular Ca2+ signaling to mediate mechanical stress dissipation and ensure robust patterning during development.


Development ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 127 (21) ◽  
pp. 4729-4741 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Brentrup ◽  
H. Lerch ◽  
H. Jackle ◽  
M. Noll

The stereotyped pattern of veins in the Drosophila wing is generated in response to local EGF signalling. Mutations in the rhomboid (rho) gene, which encodes a sevenpass membrane protein required to enhance signalling transmitted by the EGF receptor (Egfr), inhibit vein development and disrupt the vein pattern. By contrast, net mutations produce ectopic veins in intervein regions. We have cloned the net gene and show that it encodes a basic HLH protein that probably acts as a transcriptional repressor. net and rho are expressed in mutually exclusive patterns during the development of the wing imaginal disc. Lack of net activity causes rho expression to expand, and vice versa. Furthermore, ectopic expression of net or rho results in their mutual repression and thus suppresses vein formation or generates tube-like wings composed of vein-like tissue. Egfr signalling and net exert mutually antagonising activities during the specification of vein versus intervein fate. While Egfr signalling represses net transcription, net exhibits a two-tiered control by repressing rho transcription and interfering with Egfr signalling downstream of Rho. Our results further suggest that net is required to maintain intervein development by restricting Egfr signalling, which promotes vein development, to the Net-free vein regions of the wing disc.


Development ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 124 (10) ◽  
pp. 1919-1928 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.F. de Celis ◽  
S. Bray ◽  
A. Garcia-Bellido

The veins in the Drosophila wing have a characteristic width, which is regulated by the activity of the Notch pathway. The expression of the Notch-ligand Delta is restricted to the developing veins, and coincides with places where Notch transcription is lower. We find that this asymmetrical distribution of ligand and receptor leads to activation of Notch on both sides of each vein within a territory of Delta-expressing cells, and to the establishment of boundary cells that separate the vein from adjacent interveins. In these cells, the expression of the Enhancer of split gene m beta is activated and the transcription of the vein-promoting gene veinlet is repressed, thus restricting vein differentiation. We propose that the establishment of vein thickness utilises a combination of mechanisms that include: (1) independent regulation of Notch and Delta expression in intervein and vein territories, (2) Notch activation by Delta in cells where Notch and Delta expression overlaps, (3) positive feedback on Notch transcription in cells where Notch has been activated and (4) repression of veinlet transcription by E(spl)m beta and maintenance of Delta expression by veinlet/torpedo activity.


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