title: Dmaf, a novel member of Maf transcription factor family is expressed in somatic gonadal cells during embryonic development and gametogenesis in Drosophila.
abstract: Members of the maf gene family encode basic/leucine zipper transcription factors and play important roles during cell differentiation and organogenesis in vertebrate development. In this study, we show that the maf family is evolutionarily conserved and that the Drosophila maf (Dmaf) gene is expressed in somatic gonadal cells. During embryonic development, Dmaf mRNA is detected in somatic gonadal precursor cells emerging from dorsolateral mesoderm. Relatively weak expression is also observed in subset of neuronal cells in the central nervous system. In adult flies, Dmaf is expressed in somatic gonadal cells surrounding developing oocytes and spermatocytes. These results suggest a specific function for Dmaf in gonadal development, including migration and differentiation of primordial germ cells.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Biological Sciences, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, 8916-5 Takayama, Nara 630-0192, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawashima
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Kunio
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yasuda
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kageyama
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D019521:Body Patterning; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005854:Germ Cells; D006066:Gonads / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C081169:Maf protein, Bacillus subtilis; D014157:Transcription Factors