Spatial control of hairy protein expression during embryogenesis.
We have used a polyclonal antiserum specific for the Drosophila segmentation gene, hairy (h), to analyse its expression during embryogenesis. The pattern of wild-type expression resembles that of h transcription, being expressed in stripes at the blastoderm stage. h is also expressed later in the stomodaeum, proctodaeum, tracheal pits and mesoderm. We demonstrate that h protein stripes show consistent phase relationships to those of the even-skipped (eve) pair-rule gene. We examine h protein patterns in embryos mutant for other segmentation genes, including h itself. We show that lack of h activity appears not to affect h striping, arguing that h expression is not under autoregulatory control. We also show that h activity is not needed for tracheal invagination. Mutations that are rearranged upstream of the h gene cause the loss of specific stripes, indicating that the h promoter includes activating elements that respond to specific spatial cues. Our observations suggest that pair-rule striping may be under redundant control, and we discuss possible implications for hierarchical models of pair-rule gene action.
Hooper
K L
KL
Zoology Department, Oxford University, UK.
Parkhurst
S M
SM
Ish-Horowicz
D
D
D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies; D001756:Blastoderm / Q000378:metabolism; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000235:genetics; D005796:Genes / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics
D000906:Antibodies; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins