Segregation of eye and antenna fates maintained by mutual antagonism in Drosophila

Development. 2012 Sep;139(18):3413-21. doi: 10.1242/dev.078857.

Abstract

A general question in development is how do adjacent primordia adopt different developmental fates and stably maintain their distinct fates? In Drosophila melanogaster, the adult eye and antenna originate from the embryonic eye-antenna primordium. These cells proliferate in the larval stage to form the eye-antenna disc. The eye or antenna differs at mid second instar with the restricted expression of Cut (Ct), a homeodomain transcriptional repressor, in the antenna disc and Eyeless (Ey), a Pax6 transcriptional activator, in the eye disc. In this study, we show that ey transcription in the antenna disc is repressed by two homeodomain proteins, Ct and Homothorax (Hth). Loss of Ct and Hth in the antenna disc resulted in ectopic eye development in the antenna. Conversely, the Ct and Hth expression in the eye disc was suppressed by the homeodomain transcription factor Sine oculis (So), a direct target of Ey. Loss of So in the eye disc caused ectopic antenna development in the eye. Therefore, the segregation of eye and antenna fates is stably maintained by mutual repression of the other pathway.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Arthropod Antennae / embryology*
  • Arthropod Antennae / metabolism*
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / genetics
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism
  • Drosophila Proteins / genetics
  • Drosophila Proteins / metabolism
  • Drosophila melanogaster / embryology*
  • Drosophila melanogaster / metabolism*
  • Eye / embryology*
  • Eye / metabolism*
  • Homeodomain Proteins / genetics
  • Homeodomain Proteins / metabolism
  • Nuclear Proteins / genetics
  • Nuclear Proteins / metabolism
  • Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism

Substances

  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Drosophila Proteins
  • Homeodomain Proteins
  • Nuclear Proteins
  • Transcription Factors
  • ct protein, Drosophila
  • ey protein, Drosophila
  • hth protein, Drosophila