title: Properties of developmental gene regulatory networks.
abstract: The modular components, or subcircuits, of developmental gene regulatory networks (GRNs) execute specific developmental functions, such as the specification of cell identity. We survey examples of such subcircuits and relate their structures to corresponding developmental functions. These relations transcend organisms and genes, as illustrated by the similar structures of the subcircuits controlling the specification of the mesectoderm in the Drosophila embryo and the endomesoderm in the sea urchin, even though the respective subcircuits are composed of nonorthologous regulatory genes.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. davidson@caltech.edu
authors.forename: Eric H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Levine
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004330:Drosophila; D004475:Ectoderm / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian; D047108:Embryonic Development; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks / Q000502:physiology*; D048788:Growth and Development / Q000235:genetics*; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology; D012617:Sea Urchins; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014157:Transcription Factors
chemical_list: D014157:Transcription Factors