A JAK-STAT pathway regulates wing vein formation in Drosophila.
We present evidence that the JAK-STAT signal transduction pathway regulates multiple developmental processes in Drosophila. We screened for second-site mutations that suppress the phenotype of the hyperactive hopTum-1 Jak kinase, and recovered a mutation that meiotically maps to the known chromosomal position of D-Stat, a Drosophila stat gene. This hypomorphic mutation, termed statHJ contains a nucleotide substitution in the first D-Stat intron, resulting in a reduction in the number of correctly processed transcripts. Further, the abnormally processed mRNA encodes a truncated protein that has a dominant negative effect on transcriptional activation by the wild-type cDNA in cell culture. statHJ mutants exhibit patterning defects that include the formation of ectopic wing veins, similar to those seen in mutants of the epidermal growth factor/receptor pathway. Abnormalities in embryonic and adult segmentation and in tracheal development were also observed. The hopTum-1 and statHJ mutations can partially compensate for each other genetically, and Hop overexpression can increase D-Stat transcriptional activity in vitro, indicating that the gene products interact in a common regulatory pathway.
Yan
R
R
Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology, The Rockerfeller University, New York, NY 10021, USA.
Luo
H
H
Darnell
J E
JE
Dearolf
C R
CR
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004330:Drosophila / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D005260:Female; D053616:Janus Kinase 3; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014680:Veins / Q000254:growth & development*; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000098:blood supply*
D017931:DNA Primers; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D053616:Janus Kinase 3