Worniu, a Snail family zinc-finger protein, is required for brain development in Drosophila.
The Snail family of zinc-finger transcriptional repressors is essential for morphogenetic cell movements, mesoderm formation, and neurogenesis during embryonic development. These proteins also control cell cycle, cell death, and cancer progression. In Drosophila, three members of this protein family, Snail, Escargot, and Worniu, have essential but redundant functions in asymmetric cell division of neuroblasts. In addition, Snail is critical for early mesoderm formation and Escargot is required for maintaining diploidy in wing imaginal disc cells. In this report, we demonstrate that Worniu plays a role in brain development. We show that alleles of the l(2)35Da complementation group are mutants of worniu. The developing larvae of these mutant alleles fail to shorten their brainstems. The brain phenotype, as well as the lethality, of these mutants can be rescued by worniu transgenes. Moreover, RNAi experiments targeting the worniu transcript show the same nonshortening phenotype in larval brains. worniu is expressed in the neuroblasts of brain hemispheres and ventral ganglions. The results suggest that the loss of Worniu function within the neuroblasts ultimately causes the larval brainstem to fail to go through shortening during development.
Ashraf
Shovon I
SI
Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605, USA.
Ganguly
Atish
A
Roote
John
J
Ip
Y Tony
YT
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001921:Brain / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D007814:Larva / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D010641:Phenotype; D034622:RNA Interference; D000071250:Snail Family Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019076:Transgenes; D016335:Zinc Fingers
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D000071250:Snail Family Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors; C000604451:sna protein, Drosophila; C402787:wor protein, Drosophila