Mouse Hox-2.2 specifies thoracic segmental identity in Drosophila embryos and larvae.
The mouse genome has a number of homeobox genes that are structurally similar to the Drosophila Antenapedia (Antp) gene. We find that one of the mouse Antp-like genes, Hox-2.2, when expressed in developing Drosophila cells under control of a heat shock promoter, can induce homeotic transformations that are nearly identical to those caused by ectopic expression of Antp. In larvae, the Hox-2.2-induced transformations include thoracic denticle belts in place of head structures; in adults, the Hox-2.2 transformations include thoracic legs in place of antennae. The phenotypic effects of Hox-2.2 do not depend on the endogenous Antp gene, whose spatial limits of expression are unaffected by Hox-2.2 expression. Thus, in the Drosophila embryo, Hox-2.2 can substitute for some of the segmental identity functions of Antp, presumably by regulating the same set of downstream genes.
Malicki
J
J
Department of Human Genetics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511.
Schughart
K
K
McGinnis
W
W
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000502:physiology; D015870:Gene Expression; D005801:Genes, Homeobox; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D007814:Larva; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010641:Phenotype; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013909:Thorax
D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins