title: Unique and Overlapping Functions of Formins Frl and DAAM During Ommatidial Rotation and Neuronal Development in Drosophila.
abstract: The noncanonical Frizzled/planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway regulates establishment of polarity within the plane of an epithelium to generate diversity of cell fates, asymmetric, but highly aligned structures, or to orchestrate the directional migration of cells during convergent extension during vertebrate gastrulation. In Drosophila, PCP signaling is essential to orient actin wing hairs and to align ommatidia in the eye, in part by coordinating the movement of groups of photoreceptor cells during ommatidial rotation. Importantly, the coordination of PCP signaling with changes in the cytoskeleton is essential for proper epithelial polarity. Formins polymerize linear actin filaments and are key regulators of the actin cytoskeleton. Here, we show that the diaphanous-related formin, Frl, the single fly member of the FMNL (formin related in leukocytes/formin-like) formin subfamily affects ommatidial rotation in the Drosophila eye and is controlled by the Rho family GTPase Cdc42. Interestingly, we also found that frl mutants exhibit an axon growth phenotype in the mushroom body, a center for olfactory learning in the Drosophila brain, which is also affected in a subset of PCP genes. Significantly, Frl cooperates with Cdc42 and another formin, DAAM, during mushroom body formation. This study thus suggests that different formins can cooperate or act independently in distinct tissues, likely integrating various signaling inputs with the regulation of the cytoskeleton. It furthermore highlights the importance and complexity of formin-dependent cytoskeletal regulation in multiple organs and developmental contexts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461 Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461.
authors.forename: Gretchen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dollar
authors.affiliation: Office for Subsidized Research Units, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS), H-1051 Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gombos
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461 Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461.
authors.forename: Austen A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Barnett
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461 Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sanchez Hernandez
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461 Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461.
authors.forename: Saw M T
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Maung
authors.affiliation: Office for Subsidized Research Units, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS), H-1051 Budapest, Hungary Institute of Genetics, Biological Research Centre, HAS, H-6726 Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Jozsef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mihály
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461 Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461 andreas.jenny@einstein.yu.edu.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5989-8212
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jenny
mesh_terms: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology; D016764:Cell Polarity; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000502:physiology; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005123:Eye / Q000196:embryology*; D005326:Fetal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D000080865:Formins; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D008840:Microfilament Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D024521:Mushroom Bodies / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D038081:Organogenesis; D012399:Rotation
chemical_list: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; C090145:Cdc42 protein, Drosophila; C509803:DAAM protein, Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005326:Fetal Proteins; D000080865:Formins; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins
keywords: cytoskeleton; formin; neural development; noncanonical Wnt signaling; planar cell polarity