scholarly journals Role of the esc+ gene product in ensuring the selective expression of segment-specific homeotic genes in Drosophila

Development ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 297-331
Author(s):  
Gary Struhl

The product of the extra sex combs+ (esc+) gene is required during embryogenesis for the correct determination of segments in Drosophila. If this product is absent, most segments develop like the normal eighth abdominal segment. Here, I extend previous results (Struhl, 1981a) showing that this phenotype results in large part from indiscriminate expression of the bithorax-complex genes which are normally active only in particular segments of the thorax and abdomen. In addition, I test whether the esc+ gene product is required for the correct expression of other homeotic genes. First, I have examined two genes of the Antennapedia-complex (Sex combs reduced+ and Antennapedia+): I find that both genes are normally required in only some of the body segments, but that in the absence of the esc+ gene product, both appear to function adventitiously in other segments. Second, comparing esc+ and esc− embryos lacking both these genes as well as the bithorax-complex, I find that additional homeotic genes (possibly those normally involved in specifying head segments) appear to be expressed indiscriminately when the esc+ gene product is absent. Finally, I present evidence that the products of the esc+ gene and the Polycomb+ gene (a second gene required for the correct regulation of the bithorax-complex) act independently. On the basis of these results, I propose a tentative outline of the roles and realms of action of all of these genes.

Genetics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 159 (4) ◽  
pp. 1643-1648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A DeCamillis ◽  
David L Lewis ◽  
Susan J Brown ◽  
Richard W Beeman ◽  
Robin E Denell

AbstractThe role of Hox genes in the development of insect gnathal appendages has been examined in three insects: the fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster; the milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus; and the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. In each of these organisms, the identity of the labium depends on the homeotic genes Sex combs reduced (Scr) and proboscipedia (pb). Loss of pb function in each of the three insects results in homeotic transformation of the labial appendages to legs. In contrast, loss of Scr function yields a different transformation in each species. Interestingly, mutations in Cephalothorax (Cx), the Tribolium ortholog of Scr, transform the labial appendages to antennae, a result seen in the other insects only when both pb and Scr are removed. We show here that the Tribolium labial appendages also develop as antennae in double mutants. Further, we demonstrate that expression of the Tribolium proboscipedia ortholog maxillopedia (mxp) is greatly reduced or absent in the labium of Cx mutant larvae. Thus, in the wild-type labial segment, Cx function is required (directly or indirectly) for mxp transcription. A similar interaction between Scr and pb during Drosophila embryogenesis has been described recently. Thus, this regulatory paradigm appears to be conserved at least within the Holometabola.


Development ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 120 (8) ◽  
pp. 2287-2296 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. de Zulueta ◽  
E. Alexandre ◽  
B. Jacq ◽  
S. Kerridge

Homeotic genes determine the identities of metameres in Drosophila. We have examined functional aspects of the homeotic gene teashirt by ectopically expressing its product under the control of a heat-shock promoter during embryogenesis. Our results confirm that the gene is critical for segmental identity of the larva. Under mild heat-shock conditions, the Teashirt protein induces an almost complete transformation of the labial to prothoracic segmental identity, when expressed before 8 hours of development. Positive autoregulation of the endogenous teashirt gene and the presence of Sex combs reduced protein in the labium explain this homeosis. Patterns in the maxillary and a more anterior head segment are partly replaced with trunk ones. Additional Teashirt protein has no effect on the identity of the trunk segments where the gene is normally expressed; teashirt function is overridden by some homeotic complex acting in the posterior trunk. Strong heat-shock regimes provoke novel defects: ectopic sense organs differentiate in posterior abdominal segments and trunk pattern elements differentiate in the ninth abdominal segment. Teashirt acts in a partially redundant way with certain homeotic complex proteins but co-operates with them for the establishment of specific segment types. We suggest that Teashirt and HOM-C proteins regulate common sets of downstream target genes.


Development ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 713-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Busturia ◽  
G. Morata

The morphological patterns in the adult cuticle of Drosophila are determined principally by the homeotic genes of the bithorax and Antennapedia complexes. We find that many of these genes become indiscriminately active in the adult epidermis when the Pc gene is eliminated. By using the Pc3 mutation and various BX-C mutant combinations, we have generated clones of imaginal cells possessing different combinations of active homeotic genes. We find that, in the absence of BX-C genes, Pc- clones develop prothoracic patterns; this is probably due to the activity of Sex combs reduced which overrules Antennapedia. Adding contributions of Ultrabithorax, abdominal-A and Abdominal-B results in thoracic or abdominal patterns. We have established a hierarchical order among these genes: Antp less than Scr less than Ubx less than abd-A less than Abd-B. In addition, we show that the engrailed gene is ectopically active in Pc- imaginal cells.


Development ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.W. Mahaffey ◽  
R.J. Diederich ◽  
T.C. Kaufman

Antibodies that specifically recognize proteins encoded by the homeotic genes: Sex combs reduced, Deformed, labial and proboscipedia, were used to follow the distribution of these gene products during embryogenesis. The position of engrailed-expressing cells was used as a reference and staining conditions were established that could distinguish, among cells expressing engrailed, one of the homeotic proteins or both. Our observations demonstrate two important facts about establishing identity in the head segments. First, in contrast to the overlapping pattern of homeotic gene expression in the trunk segments, we observe a non-overlapping pattern in the head for those homeotic proteins required during embryogenesis. In contrast, the spatial accumulation of the protein product of the non-vital proboscipedia locus overlaps partially with the distribution of the Deformed and Sex combs reduced proteins in the maxillary and labial segments, respectively. Second, two of the proteins, Sex combs reduced and Deformed, have different dorsal and ventral patterns of accumulation. Dorsally, these proteins are expressed in segmental domains while, within the ventral region, a parasegmental register is observed. The boundary where this change in pattern occurs coincides with the junction between the ventral neurogenic region and the dorsal epidermis. After contraction of the germ band, when the nerve cord has completely separated from the epidermis, the parasegmental pattern is observed only within the ventral nerve cord while a segmental register is maintained throughout the epidermis.


Development ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 124 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.T. Rogers ◽  
M.D. Peterson ◽  
T.C. Kaufman

The products of the HOM/Hox homeotic genes form a set of evolutionarily conserved transcription factors that control elaborate developmental processes and specify cell fates in many metazoans. We examined the expression of the ortholog of the homeotic gene Sex combs reduced (Scr) of Drosophila melanogaster in insects of three divergent orders: Hemiptera, Orthoptera and Thysanura. Our data reflect how the conservation and variation of Scr expression has affected the morphological evolution of insects. Whereas the anterior epidermal expression of Scr, in a small part of the posterior maxillary and all of the labial segment, is found to be in common among all four insect orders, the posterior (thoracic) expression domains vary. Unlike what is observed in flies, the Scr orthologs of other insects are not expressed broadly over the first thoracic segment, but are restricted to small patches. We show here that Scr is required for suppression of wings on the prothorax of Drosophila. Moreover, Scr expression at the dorsal base of the prothoracic limb in two other winged insects, crickets (Orthoptera) and milkweed bugs (Hemiptera), is consistent with Scr acting as a suppressor of prothoracic wings in these insects. Scr is also expressed in a small patch of cells near the basitarsal-tibial junction of milkweed bugs, precisely where a leg comb develops, suggesting that Scr promotes comb formation, as it does in Drosophila. Surprisingly, the dorsal prothoracic expression of Scr is also present in the primitively wingless firebrat (Thysanura) and the leg patch is seen in crickets, which have no comb. Mapping both gene expression patterns and morphological characters onto the insect phylogenetic tree demonstrates that in the cases of wing suppression and comb formation the appearance of expression of Scr in the prothorax apparently precedes these specific functions.


Development ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 103 (4) ◽  
pp. 733-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.M. Dura ◽  
P. Ingham

The distributions of the products of the homeotic genes Sex combs reduced (Scr) and Ultrabithorax (Ubx) and of the segmentation genes, fushi tarazu (ftz), even skipped (eve) and engrailed (en) have been monitored in polyhomeotic (ph) mutant embryos. None of the genes monitored show abnormal expression at the blastoderm stage in the absence of zygotic ph expression. Both Scr and Ubx are ectopically expressed in the epidermis of ph embryos, confirming the earlier proposal, based on genetic analysis, that ph+ acts as a negative regulator of Antennapedia (ANT-C) and bithorax (BX-C) complex genes. At the shortened germ band stage, en is also ectopically expressed, mainly in the anterior region of each segment. In contrast to these effects in the epidermis, the expression of en, Ubx, Scr and ftz is largely or completely suppressed in the central nervous system, whereas eve becomes ectopically expressed in most neurones.


Cell ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 285-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Struhl ◽  
Danny Brower
Keyword(s):  

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chase C. Hansen ◽  
Colby Eisenbach ◽  
Carlos Torres ◽  
Suzanne Graham ◽  
Fred Hardwicke

An inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is an immunohistochemically diverse entity demonstrating neoplastic and nonneoplastic qualities. Although IMTs can arise in any area of the body, lesions arising in certain sites, namely, the nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, and pterygopalatine fossa, demonstrate a heightened neoplastic and invasive potential. Despite case specific complete tumor regression and disease remission in response to pharmacotherapeutics, a subset of IMTs remain resistant to all forms of therapy. We present such a case, a 34-year-old female patient, with a highly resistant, maxillary sinus IMT. Her refractory, ALK-1 negative IMT has not responded well to novel therapies reported in current literature. This case suggests the role of zonal expressivity within a single lesion as a probable mechanism for its highly resistant nature and should promote determination of each IMT’s cytogenetic profile to provide more effective targeted therapy. Paper includes a literature review of all maxillary sinus IMTs from 1985 to 2014 along with their immunohistochemical staining, treatments, and outcomes.


Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (6) ◽  
pp. 1121-1128 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Abzhanov ◽  
T.C. Kaufman

Homeotic genes are known to be involved in patterning morphological structures along the antero-posterior axis of insects and vertebrates. Because of their important roles in development, changes in the function and expression patterns of homeotic genes may have played a major role in the evolution of different body plans. For example, it has been proposed that during the evolution of several crustacean lineages, changes in the expression patterns of the homeotic genes Ultrabithorax and abdominal-A have played a role in transformation of the anterior thoracic appendages into mouthparts termed maxillipeds. This homeotic-like transformation is recapitulated at the late stages of the direct embryonic development of the crustacean Porcellio scaber (Oniscidea, Isopoda). Interestingly, this morphological change is associated with apparent novelties both in the transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of the Porcellio scaber ortholog of the Drosophila homeotic gene, Sex combs reduced (Scr). Specifically, we find that Scr mRNA is present in the second maxillary segment and the first pair of thoracic legs (T1) in early embryos, whereas protein accumulates only in the second maxillae. In later stages, however, high levels of SCR appear in the T1 legs, which correlates temporally with the transformation of these appendages into maxillipeds. Our observations provide further insight into the process of the homeotic leg-to-maxilliped transformation in the evolution of crustaceans and suggest a novel regulatory mechanism for this process in this group of arthropods.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (96) ◽  
pp. 129-133
Author(s):  
N. M. Khomyn ◽  
A. R. Mysak ◽  
S. V. Tsisinska ◽  
V. V. Pritsak ◽  
Yu. M. Lenyo ◽  
...  

It is well known that the value of full feeding of farm animals is an important condition for the production of livestock products. Because of the researches of many scientists was found that the value of feed is determined by the content of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, as well as vitamins, minerals and so on. However, the true value of the feed is determined by the part that is digestible and can be used by the body in the metabolism process. In the event of a violation of feeding level associated with the lack of nutrients or minerals of animals or their deficiency, the development of osteodystrophic processes is observed, which directly contribute to changes in the tendon-ligamentous apparatus of the finger of animals, there is an occurrence of prolonged osteotendinitis of the finger flexors, which causes to fingers extension, partially or completely removed from the hoof wall support, and overload of crumbs. Tightening of the crumb support is accompanied by the appearance of the skin of the hoof inflammatory process, excessive horn growth and deformation of the horn capsule. The final confirmation of osteodystrophy is the results of a multivariate mass volumetric analysis of the skeleton state and determination of the magnitude of the angles of the joints of the fingers. On the side of the hoof horn, there is an increase in the moisture content and SH-groups and a decrease in g-keratosis, which affects the biophysical properties of the hoof horn, which are shown by a decrease in density and hardness. Such changes indicate a deterioration in the quality of the hoof horn, a confirmation of which is a decrease in the intensity of erasing of the sole horn, the development of deformation and the occurrence of aseptic inflammation of the base of the skin of the sole horn.


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