title: Epigenetically heritable alteration of fly development in response to toxic challenge.
abstract: Developing organisms have evolved a wide range of mechanisms for coping with recurrent environmental challenges. How they cope with rare or unforeseen challenges is, however, unclear as are the implications to their unchallenged offspring. Here, we investigate these questions by confronting the development of the fly, D. melanogaster, with artificial tissue distributions of toxic stress that are not expected to occur during fly development. We show that under a wide range of toxic scenarios, this challenge can lead to modified development that may coincide with increased tolerance to an otherwise lethal condition. Part of this response was mediated by suppression of Polycomb group genes, which in turn leads to derepression of developmental regulators and their expression in new domains. Importantly, some of the developmental alterations were epigenetically inherited by subsequent generations of unchallenged offspring. These results show that the environment can induce alternative patterns of development that are stable across multiple generations.
authors: Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors: Shay
authors: S
authors: Stern
authors: Yael
authors: Y
authors: Fridmann-Sirkis
authors: Erez
authors: E
authors: Braun
authors: Yoav
authors: Y
authors: Soen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D005839:Gentamicins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D040582:Inheritance Patterns / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D023421:Models, Animal; D010641:Phenotype; D063146:Polycomb-Group Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D011500:Protein Synthesis Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005839:Gentamicins; D063146:Polycomb-Group Proteins; D011500:Protein Synthesis Inhibitors; D012097:Repressor Proteins; C489235:hairy protein, Drosophila; C010680:antibiotic G 418