Distinct regulation of atonal in a visual organ of Drosophila: Organ-specific enhancer and lack of autoregulation in the larval eye.
Drosophila has three types of visual organs, the larval eyes or Bolwig's organs (BO), the ocelli (OC) and the compound eyes (CE). In all, the bHLH protein Atonal (Ato) functions as the proneural factor for photoreceptors and effects the transition from progenitor cells to differentiating neurons. In this work, we investigate the regulation of ato expression in the BO primordium (BOP). Surprisingly, we find that ato transcription in the BOP is entirely independent of the shared regulatory DNA for the developing CE and OC. The core enhancer for BOP expression, atoBO, lies ~6kb upstream of the ato gene, in contrast to the downstream location of CE and OC regulatory elements. Moreover, maintenance of ato expression in the neuronal precursors through autoregulation-a common and ancient feature of ato expression that is well-documented in eyes, ocelli and chordotonal organs-does not occur in the BO. We also show that the atoBOenhancer contains two binding sites for the transcription factor Sine oculis (So), a core component of the progenitor specification network in all three visual organs. These binding sites function in vivo and are specifically bound by So in vitro. Taken together, our findings reveal that the control of ato transcription in the evolutionarily derived BO has diverged considerably from ato regulation in the more ancestral compound eyes and ocelli, to the extent of acquiring what appears to be a distinct and evolutionarily novel cis-regulatory module.
Department of Ophthalmology and Center for Vision Research, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA.
Qingxiang
Q
Zhou
Department of Ophthalmology and Center for Vision Research, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA.
Linlin
L
Yu
Department of Biological Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA; Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Wayne State University, School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48201, USA.
Markus
M
Friedrich
Department of Ophthalmology and Center for Vision Research, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA; Departments of Neuroscience & Physiology and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA. Electronic address: PignoniF@Upstate.edu.
Francesca
F
Pignoni
D024506:5' Flanking Region / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001665:Binding Sites / Q000235:genetics; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D005123:Eye / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005136:Eye Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000235:genetics*; D007814:Larva / Q000235:genetics; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009928:Organ Specificity; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D015533:Transcriptional Activation / Q000235:genetics
D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004247:DNA; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005136:Eye Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C087345:So protein, Drosophila; C082142:ato protein, Drosophila
Ath5; Atoh7; Eye evolution; Neurogenesis; RDGN; RDN
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