Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-2003

Publication Source

Development

Abstract

Dorsoventral (DV) patterning is crucial for eye development in invertebrates and higher animals. DV lineage restriction is the primary event in undifferentiated early eye primordia of Drosophila. InDrosophila eye disc, a dorsal-specific GATA family transcription factor pannier (pnr) controls Iroquois-Complex (Iro-C) genes to establish the dorsal eye fate whereas Lobe (L), which is involved in controlling a Notch ligand Serrate (Ser), is specifically required for ventral growth. However, fate of eye disc cells before the onset of dorsal expression of pnr and Iro-C is not known. We show that L/Ser are expressed in entire early eye disc before the expression of pnr and Iro-C is initiated in late first instar dorsal eye margin cells. Our evidence suggests that during embryogenesis pnr activity is not essential for eye development. We present evidence that loss of L or Ser function prior to initiation of pnr expression results in elimination of the entire eye, whereas after the onset of pnr expression it results only in preferential loss of ventral half of eye. We demonstrate that dorsal eye disc cells also become L or Serdependent when they are ventralized by removal of pnr or Iro-C gene function. Therefore, we propose that early state of the eye prior to DV lineage restriction is equivalent to ventral and requires L and Sergene function.

Inclusive pages

6351-6360

ISBN/ISSN

0950-1991

Document Version

Published Version

Comments

This document is provided for download in compliance with the publisher's policy on self-archiving. Permission documentation is on file.

Publisher

Company of Biologists

Volume

130

Peer Reviewed

yes

Issue

25

Download

Share

COinS