The Drosophila gene tailless is expressed at the embryonic termini and is a member of the steroid receptor superfamily.
The zygotically active tailless (tll) gene plays a key role in the establishment of nonmetameric domains at the anterior and posterior poles of the Drosophila embryo. We have cloned the tll gene and show that it encodes a protein with striking similarity to steroid hormone receptors in both the DNA binding "finger" and ligand binding domains. tll RNA is initially expressed in embryos in two mirror-image symmetrical domains; this pattern then quickly resolves into a pattern consistent with the mutant phenotype: a posterior cap and an anterior dorsal stripe. That the tll gene may also play a role in the nervous system is suggested by its strong expression in the forming brain and transient expression in the peripheral nervous system.
Pignoni
F
F
Department of Biology, University of California, Los Angeles 90024-1606.
Baldarelli
R M
RM
Steingrímsson
E
E
Diaz
R J
RJ
Patapoutian
A
A
Merriam
J R
JR
Lengyel
J A
JA
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D015870:Gene Expression; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D009154:Mutation; D011987:Receptors, Steroid / Q000235:genetics*; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
D011987:Receptors, Steroid