Notch signaling relieves the joint-suppressive activity of Defective proventriculus in the Drosophila leg.
Segmentation plays crucial roles during morphogenesis. Drosophila legs are divided into segments along the proximal-distal axis by flexible structures called joints. Notch signaling is necessary and sufficient to promote leg growth and joint formation, and is activated in distal cells of each segment in everting prepupal leg discs. The homeobox gene defective proventriculus (dve) is expressed in regions both proximal and distal to the intersegmental folds at 4 h after puparium formation (APF). Dve-expressing region partly overlaps with the Notch-activated region, and they become a complementary pattern at 6 h APF. Interestingly, dve mutant legs resulted in extra joint formation at the center of each tarsal segment, and the forced expression of dve caused a jointless phenotype. We present evidence that Dve suppresses the potential joint-forming activity, and that Notch signaling represses Dve expression to form joints.
Shirai
Tetsuya
T
Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, 3-1-1 Tsushima-naka, Okayama 700-8530, Japan.
Yorimitsu
Takeshi
T
Kiritooshi
Naruto
N
Matsuzaki
Fumio
F
Nakagoshi
Hideki
H
D000818:Animals; D016764:Cell Polarity; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000378:metabolism; D005121:Extremities / Q000196:embryology*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D007596:Joints / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D051880:Receptors, Notch / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013997:Time Factors
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D051880:Receptors, Notch; C114494:dve protein, Drosophila; D066246:ErbB Receptors