A screen for genes that interact with the Drosophila pair-rule segmentation gene fushi tarazu.
The pair-rule gene fushi tarazu (ftz) of Drosophila is expressed at the blastoderm stage in seven stripes that serve to define the even-numbered parasegments. ftz encodes a DNA-binding homeodomain protein and is known to regulate genes of the segment polarity, homeotic, and pair-rule classes. Despite intensive analysis in a number ... of laboratories, how ftz is regulated and how it controls its targets are still poorly understood. To help understand these processes, we conducted a screen to identify dominant mutations that enhance the lethality of a ftz temperature-sensitive mutant. Twenty-six enhancers were isolated, which define 21 genes. All but one of the mutations recovered show a maternal effect in their interaction with ftz. Three of the enhancers proved to be alleles of the known ftz protein cofactor gene ftz-f1, demonstrating the efficacy of the screen. Four enhancers are alleles of Atrophin (Atro), the Drosophila homolog of the human gene responsible for the neurodegenerative disease dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy. Embryos from Atro mutant germ-line mothers lack the even-numbered (ftz-dependent) engrailed stripes and show strong ftz-like segmentation defects. These defects likely result from a reduction in Even-skipped (Eve) repression ability, as Atro has been shown to function as a corepressor for Eve. In this study, we present evidence that Atro is also a member of the trithorax group (trxG) of Hox gene regulators. Atro appears to be particularly closely related in function to the trxG gene osa, which encodes a component of the brahma chromatin remodeling complex. One additional gene was identified that causes pair-rule segmentation defects in embryos from homozygous mutant germ-line mothers. The single allele of this gene, called bek, also causes nuclear abnormalities similar to those caused by alleles of the Trithorax-like gene, which encodes the GAGA factor.
Mesh Terms:
Animals, Body Patterning, Cloning, Molecular, DNA-Binding Proteins, Drosophila Proteins, Drosophila melanogaster, Enhancer Elements, Genetic, Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Fushi Tarazu Transcription Factors, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Genetic Testing, Homeodomain Proteins, Immunohistochemistry, Transcription Factors
Animals, Body Patterning, Cloning, Molecular, DNA-Binding Proteins, Drosophila Proteins, Drosophila melanogaster, Enhancer Elements, Genetic, Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Fushi Tarazu Transcription Factors, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Genetic Testing, Homeodomain Proteins, Immunohistochemistry, Transcription Factors
Genetics
Date: Sep. 01, 2004
PubMed ID: 15454535
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