title: zen and the art of phenotypic maintenance: canalization of embryonic dorsal-ventral patterning in Drosophila.
abstract: We recently uncovered a novel genetic mechanism that generates the phenotypic uniformity, or canalization, of BMP signaling and cell fate specification during patterning of the dorsal-ventral (D/V) axis in D. melanogaster embryos. We went on to show that other wild-type Drosophila species lack this canalizing genetic circuitry and, consequently, have non-robust D/V patterning. In this review, we propose molecular mechanisms that may give rise to stereotyped BMP signaling, and we identify an additional species that could have decanalized D/V patterning. Extension of these analyses could in turn help explain why canalization is not a universal necessity for species survival.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology ; University of Chicago ; Chicago , IL USA.
authors.forename: Jackie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gavin-Smyth
authors.forename: Edwin L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Ferguson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D019521:Body Patterning; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051765:Early Growth Response Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010641:Phenotype; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D051765:Early Growth Response Transcription Factors; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; C085607:Zen protein, Drosophila; C415644:cv-2 protein, Drosophila
keywords: BMP signaling; BMP, Bone Morphogenetic Protein; Cv-2, crossveinless-2; D, Drosophila; D/V, dorsal-ventral; Dpp, Decapentaplegic; Drosophila species; Egr, eiger; JNK, Jun N-terminal Kinase; Mad, Mothers against dpp; PWM, Position Weight Matrix; Sog, Short Gastrulation; Tkv, Thickveins; Tld, Tolloid; Tsg, Twisted Gastrulation; VRE, Ventral Repression Element; Zelda; Zen, zerknüllt; canalization; dorsal-ventral patterning; pMad, phosphorylated Mad