title: Hox-controlled reorganisation of intrasegmental patterning cues underlies Drosophila posterior spiracle organogenesis.
abstract: Hox proteins provide axial positional information and control segment morphology in development and evolution. Yet how they specify morphological traits that confer segment identity and how axial positional information interferes with intrasegmental patterning cues during organogenesis remain poorly understood. We have investigated the control of Drosophila posterior spiracle morphogenesis, a segment-specific structure that forms under Abdominal-B (AbdB) Hox control in the eighth abdominal segment (A8). We show that the Hedgehog (Hh), Wingless (Wg) and Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (Egfr) pathways provide specific inputs for posterior spiracle morphogenesis and act in a genetic network made of multiple and rapidly evolving Hox/signalling interplays. A major function of AbdB during posterior spiracle organogenesis is to reset A8 intrasegmental patterning cues, first by reshaping wg and rhomboid expression patterns, then by reallocating the Hh signal and later by initiating de novo expression of the posterior compartment gene engrailed in anterior compartment cells. These changes in expression patterns confer axial specificity to otherwise reiteratively used segmental patterning cues, linking intrasegmental polarity and acquisition of segment identity.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Génétique et Physiologie du Développement, IBDM, CNRS, Université de la méditerranée, Parc Scientifique de Luminy, Case 907, 13288, Marseille Cedex 09, France.
authors.forename: Samir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Merabet
authors.forename: James Castelli-Gair
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hombria
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pradel
authors.forename: Yacine
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Graba
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics; D004475:Ectoderm / Q000502:physiology; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D038081:Organogenesis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018010:Receptors, Invertebrate Peptide / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051155:Wnt1 Protein
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C063459:En protein, Drosophila; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D018010:Receptors, Invertebrate Peptide; C081481:Rho protein, Drosophila; D014157:Transcription Factors; D051155:Wnt1 Protein; C074622:wg protein, Drosophila; C077245:hh protein, Drosophila; D011494:Protein Kinases; C066532:Egfr protein, Drosophila; D066246:ErbB Receptors