The Drosophila tissue polarity gene starry night encodes a member of the protocadherin family.
The tissue polarity genes control the polarity of hairs, bristles and ommatidia in the adult epidermis of Drosophila. We report here the identification of a new tissue polarity gene named starry night (stan). Mutations in this essential gene alter the polarity of cuticular structures in all regions of the adult body. The detailed polarity phenotype of stan on the wing suggested that it is most likely a component of the frizzled (fz) pathway. Consistent with this hypothesis, stan appears to be downstream of and required for fz function. We molecularly cloned stan and found that it encodes a huge protocadherin containing nine cadherin motifs, four EGF-like motifs, two laminin G motifs, and seven transmembrane domains. This suggests that Stan functions in signal reception, perhaps together with Fz.
Chae
J
J
Department of Life Science, Kwangju Institute of Science and Technology (K-JIST), Kwangju, Korea.
Kim
M J
MJ
Goo
J H
JH
Collier
S
S
Gubb
D
D
Charlton
J
J
Adler
P N
PN
Park
W J
WJ
D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000235:genetics; D015820:Cadherins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000235:genetics; D016764:Cell Polarity; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002999:Clone Cells; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics*; D051157:Frizzled Receptors; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006197:Hair / Q000254:growth & development; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000254:growth & development
D015820:Cadherins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D051157:Frizzled Receptors; D019476:Insect Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; C058784:fz protein, Drosophila; C121420:stan protein, Drosophila