title: Patterned Anchorage to the Apical Extracellular Matrix Defines Tissue Shape in the Developing Appendages of Drosophila.
abstract: How tissues acquire their characteristic shape is a fundamental unresolved question in biology. While genes have been characterized that control local mechanical forces to elongate epithelial tissues, genes controlling global forces in epithelia have yet to be identified. Here, we describe a genetic pathway that shapes appendages in Drosophila by defining the pattern of global tensile forces in the tissue. In the appendages, shape arises from tension generated by cell constriction and localized anchorage of the epithelium to the cuticle via the apical extracellular-matrix protein Dumpy (Dp). Altering Dp expression in the developing wing results in predictable changes in wing shape that can be simulated by a computational model that incorporates only tissue contraction and localized anchorage. Three other wing shape genes, narrow, tapered, and lanceolate, encode components of a pathway that modulates Dp distribution in the wing to refine the global force pattern and thus wing shape.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK; The Francis Crick Institute, Lincoln's Inn Fields Laboratory, 44 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PX, UK. Electronic address: robert.ray@crick.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA; Department de Genètica i Microbiologia, Genomics, Bioinformatics, and Evolution Group, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès 08193, Spain.
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matamoro-Vidal
authors.affiliation: The Francis Crick Institute, Lincoln's Inn Fields Laboratory, 44 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PX, UK; Centre for Tumour Biology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, Charterhouse Square, London EC1M 6BQ, UK.
authors.forename: Paulo S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: The Francis Crick Institute, Lincoln's Inn Fields Laboratory, 44 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PX, UK.
authors.forename: Nic
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tapon
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Houle
authors.affiliation: Department de Genètica i Microbiologia, Genomics, Bioinformatics, and Evolution Group, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès 08193, Spain; Center of Excellence in Experimental and Computational Developmental Biology, Developmental Biology Program, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 56, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Isaac
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Salazar-Ciudad
authors.affiliation: The Francis Crick Institute, Lincoln's Inn Fields Laboratory, 44 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PX, UK.
authors.forename: Barry J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000196:embryology*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000378:metabolism*; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000378:metabolism; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D034622:RNA Interference; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000196:embryology*
chemical_list: C411950:DPY protein, Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins; D007473:Ion Channels; C476573:Na protein, Drosophila; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering