Determination of the embryonic axes of Drosophila - PubMed (original) (raw)
Affiliations
- PMID: 1742496
Review
Determination of the embryonic axes of Drosophila
C Nüsslein-Volhard. Dev Suppl. 1991.
Abstract
The principles of embryonic pattern formation have been studied extensively in many systems using classical experimental approaches. In Drosophila, a powerful combination of genetics and transplantation experiments, as well as molecular biology, have helped to elucidate the mechanisms that operate during oogenesis and early embryogenesis to establish a set of positional cues required for axis determination in the early embryo. In systematic searches for maternal effect mutations a small number of about 30 genes have been identified that specifically affect the process of determination of the embryonic axes. These 'coordinate' genes define four systems that determine the anteroposterior (AP) axis (three systems) and the dorsoventral (DV) axis (one system) independently. In the anteroposterior axis, the anterior system determines the segmented region of head and thorax, the posterior system determines the segmented abdominal region, and the terminal system is responsible for the formation of the nonsegmented termini at the anterior and posterior egg tips, the acron and telson. In contrast, pattern along the dorsoventral axis is determined by one system only. Although all four systems use different biochemical mechanisms, they share several properties. (1) The product of one gene in each system is localized in a specific region of the freshly laid egg and functions as a spatial signal. (2) In each system, this spatial information finally results in the asymmetrical distribution of one gene product that functions as a transcription factor. (3) This transcription factor is distributed in a concentration gradient that defines the spatial limits of expression of one or more zygotic target genes. The combined action of these three anteroposterior systems as well as the dorsoventral system defines the expression of zygotic target genes in at least seven distinct regions along the anteroposterior and at least three in the dorsoventral axis. These longitudinal and transverse domains provide a coarse spatial prepattern which is then further refined by the action and interaction of zygotic pattern genes.
Similar articles
- [Determination of the dorso-ventral polarity of the Drosophila embryo].
Mohier E. Mohier E. Ann Genet. 1993;36(1):5-15. Ann Genet. 1993. PMID: 8503650 Review. French. - Axis determination in insect embryos.
Nüsslein-Volhard C, Roth S. Nüsslein-Volhard C, et al. Ciba Found Symp. 1989;144:37-55; discussion 55-64, 92-8. doi: 10.1002/9780470513798.ch4. Ciba Found Symp. 1989. PMID: 2673683 Review. - The molecular basis for metameric pattern in the Drosophila embryo.
Akam M. Akam M. Development. 1987 Sep;101(1):1-22. Development. 1987. PMID: 2896587 Review. - Mediation of Drosophila head development by gap-like segmentation genes.
Cohen SM, Jürgens G. Cohen SM, et al. Nature. 1990 Aug 2;346(6283):482-5. doi: 10.1038/346482a0. Nature. 1990. PMID: 1974035 - The Drosophila posterior-group gene nanos functions by repressing hunchback activity.
Irish V, Lehmann R, Akam M. Irish V, et al. Nature. 1989 Apr 20;338(6217):646-8. doi: 10.1038/338646a0. Nature. 1989. PMID: 2704419
Cited by
- A modERN resource: identification of Drosophila transcription factor candidate target genes using RNAi.
Fisher WW, Hammonds AS, Weiszmann R, Booth BW, Gevirtzman L, Patton JEJ, Kubo CA, Waterston RH, Celniker SE. Fisher WW, et al. Genetics. 2023 Apr 6;223(4):iyad004. doi: 10.1093/genetics/iyad004. Genetics. 2023. PMID: 36652461 Free PMC article. - The second polar body contributes to the fate asymmetry in the mouse embryo.
Jin H, Han Y, Wang H, Li JXH, Shen W, Zhang L, Chen L, Jia S, Yuan P, Chen H, Meng A. Jin H, et al. Natl Sci Rev. 2022 Jan 10;9(7):nwac003. doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwac003. eCollection 2022 Jul. Natl Sci Rev. 2022. PMID: 35919785 Free PMC article. - A sensitive mNeonGreen reporter system to measure transcriptional dynamics in Drosophila development.
Ceolin S, Hanf M, Bozek M, Storti AE, Gompel N, Unnerstall U, Jung C, Gaul U. Ceolin S, et al. Commun Biol. 2020 Nov 12;3(1):663. doi: 10.1038/s42003-020-01375-5. Commun Biol. 2020. PMID: 33184447 Free PMC article. - Unusual morphological adaptations and processes associated with viviparity in an epizoic dermapteran.
Bilinski SM, Jaglarz MK, Halajian A, Tworzydlo W. Bilinski SM, et al. PLoS One. 2018 Apr 25;13(4):e0195647. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195647. eCollection 2018. PLoS One. 2018. PMID: 29694411 Free PMC article. - Evidence of Oocyte Polarity in Bovine; Implications for Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection and Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer.
Hosseini SM, Moulavi F, TanhaieVash N, Shams-Esfandabadi N, Nasr-Esfahani MH, Shirazi A. Hosseini SM, et al. Cell J. 2017 Oct;19(3):482-491. doi: 10.22074/cellj.2017.4887. Epub 2017 Aug 19. Cell J. 2017. PMID: 28836411 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Medical
Molecular Biology Databases