title: D-mef2: a Drosophila mesoderm-specific MADS box-containing gene with a biphasic expression profile during embryogenesis.
abstract: We have identified a mesoderm-specific Drosophila gene, designated D-mef2. The encoded protein contains the MADS- and MEF2-specific domains, which are characteristic of the myocyte-specific enhancer factor 2 (MEF2) family of transcription factors. D-mef2 RNA is first detectable in the presumptive mesoderm at late cellular blastoderm stage and is expressed in all mesoderm after invagination. Following the dorsal migration of the mesodermal layer, D-mef2 expression becomes restricted to the primordia for visceral muscle and the heart. In the second phase, D-mef2 expression is first distinct in heart precursors and then becomes prominent sequentially in visceral and somatic muscles. twi activity is required for D-mef2 expression, while sna function may be needed for the maintenance of D-mef2 expression but not its initiation. D-mef expression is not dependent on the function of tin, and embryos that are deficient for the mesodermal gene DFR1 also show normal initiation of D-mef2 expression at blastoderm. These results suggest that D-mef2 could have a function in early mesoderm differentiation and may be required for subsequent cell fate specifications within the somatic and visceral/heart mesodermal layers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115.
authors.forename: H T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bodmer
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Abmayr
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: McDermott
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Spoerel
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D004274:DNA, Recombinant; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics*; D017344:Genes, Insect / Q000235:genetics*; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D064326:MEF2 Transcription Factors; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D018006:Myogenic Regulatory Factors; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D004274:DNA, Recombinant; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D064326:MEF2 Transcription Factors; C499409:Mef2 protein, Drosophila; D018006:Myogenic Regulatory Factors; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014157:Transcription Factors