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Spinelli L, Saha S, Castro Mondragon J, Kervadec A, Kremmer L, Krifa S, Roder L, Brun C, Bodmer R, Ocorr K, Colas A, Perrin L. Genetic architecture of natural variations of cardiac performances in flies: Conserved features with humans. Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases Supplements 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.acvdsp.2021.04.149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Perrin L, Roder L, Kremmer L, Spinelli L, Castro Mondragon J, Torres M, Brun C, Bodmer R, Ocorr K. Genetic architecture of natural variations of cardiac perfomances in flies. Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases Supplements 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.acvdsp.2020.03.059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Bodmer R, Mayor P, Antunez M, Fang T, Chota K, Yuyarima TA, Flores S, Cosgrove B, López N, Pizuri O, Puertas P. Wild Meat Species, Climate Change, and Indigenous Amazonians. J ETHNOBIOL 2020. [DOI: 10.2993/0278-0771-40.2.218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Richard Bodmer
- Museum of Indigenous Amazonian Cultures, Fundamazonia, 332 Malecón Tarapacá, Iquitos, Loreto, Perú
| | - Pedro Mayor
- Museum of Indigenous Amazonian Cultures, Fundamazonia, 332 Malecón Tarapacá, Iquitos, Loreto, Perú
| | - Miguel Antunez
- Museum of Indigenous Amazonian Cultures, Fundamazonia, 332 Malecón Tarapacá, Iquitos, Loreto, Perú
| | - Tula Fang
- Museum of Indigenous Amazonian Cultures, Fundamazonia, 332 Malecón Tarapacá, Iquitos, Loreto, Perú
| | - Kimberlyn Chota
- Museum of Indigenous Amazonian Cultures, Fundamazonia, 332 Malecón Tarapacá, Iquitos, Loreto, Perú
| | - Tulio Ahuanari Yuyarima
- Museum of Indigenous Amazonian Cultures, Fundamazonia, 332 Malecón Tarapacá, Iquitos, Loreto, Perú
| | - Samuel Flores
- Museum of Indigenous Amazonian Cultures, Fundamazonia, 332 Malecón Tarapacá, Iquitos, Loreto, Perú
| | - Benjamin Cosgrove
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, UK
| | - Nathaly López
- Museum of Indigenous Amazonian Cultures, Fundamazonia, 332 Malecón Tarapacá, Iquitos, Loreto, Perú
| | - Osnar Pizuri
- Museum of Indigenous Amazonian Cultures, Fundamazonia, 332 Malecón Tarapacá, Iquitos, Loreto, Perú
| | - Pablo Puertas
- Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana, Iquitos, Loreto, Perú
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Zeng Q, Wan Y, Zhu P, Zhao M, Jiang F, Chen J, Tang M, Zhu X, Li Y, Zha H, Wang Y, Hu M, Mo X, Zhang Y, Chen Y, Chen Y, Ye X, Bodmer R, Ocorr K, Jiang Z, Zhuang J, Yuan W, Wu X. The bHLH Protein Nulp1 is Essential for Femur Development Via Acting as a Cofactor in Wnt Signaling in Drosophila. Curr Mol Med 2019; 17:509-517. [PMID: 29437009 PMCID: PMC5898038 DOI: 10.2174/1566524018666180212145714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2017] [Revised: 01/27/2018] [Accepted: 02/09/2018] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Background: The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) protein families are a large class of transcription factors, which are associated with cell proliferation, tissue differentiation, and other important development processes. We reported that the Nuclear localized protein-1 (Nulp1) might act as a novel bHLH transcriptional factor to mediate cellular functions. However, its role in development in vivo remains unknown. Methods: Nulp1 (dNulp1) mutants are generated by CRISPR/Cas9 targeting the Domain of Unknown Function (DUF654) in its C terminal. Expression of Wg target genes are analyzed by qRT-PCR. We use the Top-Flash luciferase reporter assay to response to Wg signaling. Results: Here we show that Drosophila Nulp1 (dNulp1) mutants, generated by CRISPR/Cas9 targeting the Domain of Unknown Function (DUF654) in its C terminal, are partially homozygous lethal and the rare escapers have bent femurs, which are similar to the major manifestation of congenital bent-bone dysplasia in human Stuve-Weidemann syndrome. The fly phenotype can be rescued by dNulp1 over-expression, indicating that dNulp1 is essential for fly femur development and survival. Moreover, dNulp1 overexpression suppresses the notch wing phenotype caused by the overexpression of sgg/GSK3β, an inhibitor of the canonical Wnt cascade. Furthermore, qRT-PCR analyses show that seven target genes positively regulated by Wg signaling pathway are down-regulated in response to dNulp1 knockout, while two negatively regulated Wg targets are up-regulated in dNulp1 mutants. Finally, dNulp1 overexpression significantly activates the Top-Flash Wnt signaling reporter. Conclusion: We conclude that bHLH protein dNulp1 is essential for femur development and survival in Drosophila by acting as a positive cofactor in Wnt/Wingless signaling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Q Zeng
- The Center for Heart Development, State Key Laboratory of Development Biology, Key Laboratory of MOE for Development Biology and Protein Chemistry, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China
| | - Y Wan
- The Center for Heart Development, State Key Laboratory of Development Biology, Key Laboratory of MOE for Development Biology and Protein Chemistry, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China
| | - P Zhu
- Cardiovascular Surgery, Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou 510100, China
| | - M Zhao
- Department of Pediatrics, the Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, China
| | - F Jiang
- The Center for Heart Development, State Key Laboratory of Development Biology, Key Laboratory of MOE for Development Biology and Protein Chemistry, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China
| | - J Chen
- Cardiovascular Surgery, Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou 510100, China
| | - M Tang
- The Center for Heart Development, State Key Laboratory of Development Biology, Key Laboratory of MOE for Development Biology and Protein Chemistry, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China
| | - X Zhu
- Cardiovascular Surgery, Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou 510100, China
| | - Y Li
- The Center for Heart Development, State Key Laboratory of Development Biology, Key Laboratory of MOE for Development Biology and Protein Chemistry, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China
| | - H Zha
- The Center for Heart Development, State Key Laboratory of Development Biology, Key Laboratory of MOE for Development Biology and Protein Chemistry, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China
| | - Y Wang
- The Center for Heart Development, State Key Laboratory of Development Biology, Key Laboratory of MOE for Development Biology and Protein Chemistry, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China
| | - M Hu
- The Center for Heart Development, State Key Laboratory of Development Biology, Key Laboratory of MOE for Development Biology and Protein Chemistry, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China
| | - X Mo
- The Center for Heart Development, State Key Laboratory of Development Biology, Key Laboratory of MOE for Development Biology and Protein Chemistry, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China
| | - Y Zhang
- The Center for Heart Development, State Key Laboratory of Development Biology, Key Laboratory of MOE for Development Biology and Protein Chemistry, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China
| | - Y Chen
- The Center for Heart Development, State Key Laboratory of Development Biology, Key Laboratory of MOE for Development Biology and Protein Chemistry, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China
| | - Y Chen
- The Center for Heart Development, State Key Laboratory of Development Biology, Key Laboratory of MOE for Development Biology and Protein Chemistry, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China
| | - X Ye
- The Center for Heart Development, State Key Laboratory of Development Biology, Key Laboratory of MOE for Development Biology and Protein Chemistry, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China
| | - R Bodmer
- Development, Aging and Regeneration Program, Sanford-Burnham-Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, United States
| | - K Ocorr
- Development, Aging and Regeneration Program, Sanford-Burnham-Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, United States
| | - Z Jiang
- The Center for Heart Development, State Key Laboratory of Development Biology, Key Laboratory of MOE for Development Biology and Protein Chemistry, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China
| | - J Zhuang
- Cardiovascular Surgery, Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou 510100, China
| | - W Yuan
- The Center for Heart Development, State Key Laboratory of Development Biology, Key Laboratory of MOE for Development Biology and Protein Chemistry, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China
| | - X Wu
- The Center for Heart Development, State Key Laboratory of Development Biology, Key Laboratory of MOE for Development Biology and Protein Chemistry, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China
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Mayor P, Habner de Souza Pereira T, Andrade RDSD, González-Benavent E, Barros Monteiro FO, Bodmer R, Valsecchi J, El Bizri HR. Embryonic and fetal development of the red brocket deer (Mazama americana). Theriogenology 2019; 134:53-64. [PMID: 31132721 DOI: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2019.05.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2019] [Revised: 04/22/2019] [Accepted: 05/16/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The red brocket deer (Mazama americana), a medium-sized Neotropical ungulate, is one of the most hunted mammals in the Amazon. This study analyzes the intrauterine development in the red brocket deer through the description of the external and internal morphology in one embryo and 38 fetuses collected from animals hunted for subsistence in the Amazon. The chronological order of occurrence of external characteristics in relation to the total dorsal length (TDL) was: differentiated genitalia, limbs and eyelid buds (TDL = 3.9 cm), fusioned eyelids, outer ear and hooves (TDL ≥ 9.5 cm), skin (TDL ≥ 20.4 cm), tactile pelage and nasal pigmentation (TDL ≥ 21.5 cm), covering pelage and skin spots (TDL ≥ 31.3 cm), and teeth eruption and opened eyelids (TDL ≥ 34.2 cm). The formula of fetal age was ∛W = 0.072 (t - 42), with a high linear relationship between TDL and gestational age. Multiple linear and non-linear regressions showed strong positive associations between biometric measures and absolute visceral weights with TDL. The relative weight of the tubular gastrointestinal organs, spleen and thymus increased during the fetal development; in contrast, the liver and kidneys' relative weight diminished during the fetal development. Advanced fetuses (≥44.0 cm TDL) had lower proportion of liver and larger tubular gastrointestinal organs within the visceral weight than adults. The chronology of appearance of the main events of the fetal development suggests that the red brocket deer adopt some precocial features, such as the early development of the sensorial function, including the early development of eyelids, outer ear and tactile pelage, the early development of the covering pelage which acts in thermoregulation and the early teeth eruption which allows the early foraging. Nevertheless, the precocial level of the red brocket deer is apparently lower than other species more frequently predated by large felids, such as peccaries and the paca.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro Mayor
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Departament de Sanitat i d'Anatomia Animals, Facultat de Veterinària, Barcelona, Spain; Museo de Culturas Indígenas Amazónicas, Iquitos, Loreto, Peru; ComFauna, Comunidad de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y en Latinoamérica, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru; Rede de Pesquisa em Diversidade, Conservação e Uso da Fauna na Amazônia (REDEFAUNA), Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil; Federal Rural University of the Amazon (UFRA), Postgraduate Program in Animal Health and Production in Amazonia (PPGSPAA), Belém, Pará, Brazil.
| | - Thyago Habner de Souza Pereira
- Federal Rural University of the Amazon (UFRA), Postgraduate Program in Animal Health and Production in Amazonia (PPGSPAA), Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Rafael Dos Santos de Andrade
- Federal Rural University of the Amazon (UFRA), Postgraduate Program in Animal Health and Production in Amazonia (PPGSPAA), Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Elena González-Benavent
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Departament de Sanitat i d'Anatomia Animals, Facultat de Veterinària, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Frederico Ozanan Barros Monteiro
- Federal Rural University of the Amazon (UFRA), Postgraduate Program in Animal Health and Production in Amazonia (PPGSPAA), Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Richard Bodmer
- Museo de Culturas Indígenas Amazónicas, Iquitos, Loreto, Peru; ComFauna, Comunidad de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y en Latinoamérica, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru; Rede de Pesquisa em Diversidade, Conservação e Uso da Fauna na Amazônia (REDEFAUNA), Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - João Valsecchi
- ComFauna, Comunidad de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y en Latinoamérica, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru; Rede de Pesquisa em Diversidade, Conservação e Uso da Fauna na Amazônia (REDEFAUNA), Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil; Mamirauá Sustainable Development Institute (IDSM), Tefé, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Hani Rocha El Bizri
- ComFauna, Comunidad de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y en Latinoamérica, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru; Rede de Pesquisa em Diversidade, Conservação e Uso da Fauna na Amazônia (REDEFAUNA), Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil; Mamirauá Sustainable Development Institute (IDSM), Tefé, Amazonas, Brazil; School of Science and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University, Oxford Road, M15 6BH, Manchester, United Kingdom
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El Bizri HR, Fa JE, Valsecchi J, Bodmer R, Mayor P. Age at sexual maturity, first parturition and reproductive senescence in wild lowland pacas (Cuniculus paca): Implications for harvest sustainability. Anim Reprod Sci 2019; 205:105-114. [PMID: 31060921 DOI: 10.1016/j.anireprosci.2019.04.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2018] [Revised: 04/12/2019] [Accepted: 04/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Generation length (GL) of a mammal, calculated through the age at sexual maturity, first reproduction and reproductive senescence can be used to assess the capacity of a population of a species to withstand differing amounts of hunting pressure by humans without depletion of animal numbers. Due to the lack of reproductive data for wild mammals, the GL is often difficult to determine for most species. In the present study, the GL parameters were assessed for the wild lowland paca (Cuniculus paca) from a sample of 119 female genitalia obtained during a 15-year hunter participatory program in the Amazon. The probability of female pacas being sexually active, with observable ovarian functionality or pregnancy, increased as both body and genitalia masses increased. The average body mass at puberty was 5.46 kg. Puberty was estimated to occur at 4 months of age, from which there was estimation when age at first parturition would occur 9 months after birth. Additionally, there was no indication that there was a decrease in parturition rate at more advanced ages. The estimated age of first reproduction for pacas was much less than previous estimates, most from assessments of captive animals. In addition, because there was no evidence of reproductive senescence, it is suggested that the average age of mature hunted pacas should be used to determine optimal harvesting rates of pacas by humans. The present study highlights the importance of in situ studies on reproduction of animals in their natural habitat because these will yield more accurate reproductive variable estimates than those obtained from captive animals. It is suggested that similar methods be used to accurately assess reproductive parameters of other tropical species that are hunted by humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hani Rocha El Bizri
- School of Science and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University, Oxford Road, M15 6BH, Manchester, United Kingdom; Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá (IDSM), Tefé, AM, Brazil; ComFauna, Comunidad de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y en Latinoamérica, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru; RedeFauna, Rede de Pesquisa em Diversidade, Conservação e Uso da Fauna da Amazônia, Brazil.
| | - John E Fa
- School of Science and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University, Oxford Road, M15 6BH, Manchester, United Kingdom; Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Jalan Cifor Rawajaha, Situ Gede, Bogor Barat, Kota, Bogor, Jawa Barat, 16115, Indonesia
| | - João Valsecchi
- Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá (IDSM), Tefé, AM, Brazil; ComFauna, Comunidad de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y en Latinoamérica, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru; RedeFauna, Rede de Pesquisa em Diversidade, Conservação e Uso da Fauna da Amazônia, Brazil
| | - Richard Bodmer
- ComFauna, Comunidad de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y en Latinoamérica, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru; FUNDAMAZONIA, Iquitos, Loreto, Peru
| | - Pedro Mayor
- ComFauna, Comunidad de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y en Latinoamérica, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru; FUNDAMAZONIA, Iquitos, Loreto, Peru; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Department of Animal Health and Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
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El Bizri HR, Fa JE, Bowler M, Valsecchi J, Bodmer R, Mayor P. Breeding seasonality in the lowland paca (Cuniculus paca) in Amazonia: interactions with rainfall, fruiting, and sustainable hunting. J Mammal 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyy102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Hani R El Bizri
- Grupo de Pesquisa em Ecologia de Vertebrados Terrestres, Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá (IDSM), Estrada do Bexiga, Fonte Boa, CEP, Tefé, Amazonas, Brazil
- ComFauna, Comunidad de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y en Latinoamérica, Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru
- School of Science and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University, Oxford Road, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - John E Fa
- School of Science and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University, Oxford Road, Manchester, United Kingdom
- Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Jalan Cifor Rawajaha, Situ Gede, Bogor Barat, Kota Bogor, Jawa Barat, Indonesia
| | - Mark Bowler
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of Suffolk, Waterfront Building, Neptune Quay, Ipswich, United Kingdom
- San Diego Zoo Global Institute for Conservation Research, Escondido, California, CA, USA
| | - João Valsecchi
- Grupo de Pesquisa em Ecologia de Vertebrados Terrestres, Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá (IDSM), Estrada do Bexiga, Fonte Boa, CEP, Tefé, Amazonas, Brazil
- ComFauna, Comunidad de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y en Latinoamérica, Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru
| | - Richard Bodmer
- ComFauna, Comunidad de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y en Latinoamérica, Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru
- FundAmazonia, Malecón Tarapacá nº, Iquitos, Loreto, Peru
| | - Pedro Mayor
- ComFauna, Comunidad de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y en Latinoamérica, Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru
- FundAmazonia, Malecón Tarapacá nº, Iquitos, Loreto, Peru
- Departament de Sanitat i Anatomia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Saúde e Produção Animal na Amazônia, Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia, Terra Firme, Belém, Pará, Brazil
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de Andrade RDS, Monteiro FOB, El Bizri HR, Pantoja L, Bodmer R, Valsecchi J, Mayor P. Embryonic and fetal development of the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari). Theriogenology 2018; 119:163-174. [PMID: 30015145 DOI: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2018.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2018] [Revised: 07/04/2018] [Accepted: 07/07/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) is an endangered large-sized Neotropical ungulate that is one of the most hunted mammals in the Amazon. Here, we used two embryos and 102 white-lipped peccary fetuses originated from animals hunted for subsistence in the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon to describe the intrauterine development of external and internal morphology of this Neotropical ungulate. Logistic regressions were used to estimate the probability of occurrence of main external characteristics in relation to the total dorsal length (TDL), while multiple linear and non-linear regressions were conducted to assess the relationship between external and visceral biometry with TDL. External characteristics appeared in the following chronological order: limbs, differentiated genitalia and opened eyelids (≥5.1 cm TDL), fused eyelids (≥6.2 cm TDL), hooves and outer ear (≥7.9 cm TDL), dorsal gland (≥9.4 cm TDL), skin (≥11.5 cm TDL); tactile pelage (≥13.8 cm TDL), covering pelage (≥20.9 cm TDL), tooth eruption (≥26.4 cm TDL) and opened eyelids (≥27.8 cm TDL). The formula of fetal age was ∛W = 0.084 (t - 31.80), with a high linear relationship between TDL and gestational age. All external biometric parameters and absolute volume of visceral organs showed strong positive relationship with TDL. Except for the liver, we found differences in the relative volume of most visceral organs between advanced fetuses (≥34.2 cm TDL) and adults. The most important events during the intrauterine development in the white-lipped peccary show that, in contrast with the domestic pig, it is a highly precocial species producing newborns with a high fetal growth velocity which allows newborns to achieve an early autonomous functionality. Our results are relevant to improve imaging techniques and assist the reproductive and clinical management for the white-lipped peccary both in captivity and in the wild.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafael Dos Santos de Andrade
- Federal Rural University of the Amazon (UFRA), Postgraduate Program in Animal Health and Production in Amazonia (PPGSPAA), Belém, PA, Brazil
| | - Frederico Ozanan Barros Monteiro
- Federal Rural University of the Amazon (UFRA), Postgraduate Program in Animal Health and Production in Amazonia (PPGSPAA), Belém, PA, Brazil
| | - Hani Rocha El Bizri
- Manchester Metropolitan University, School of Science and the Environment, Manchester, United Kingdom; Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development (IDSM), Tefé, AM, Brazil; ComFauna, Comunidad de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y en Latinoamérica, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru
| | - Luciana Pantoja
- Federal Rural University of the Amazon (UFRA), Postgraduate Program in Animal Health and Production in Amazonia (PPGSPAA), Belém, PA, Brazil
| | - Richard Bodmer
- ComFauna, Comunidad de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y en Latinoamérica, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru; FUNDAMAZONIA, Iquitos, Loreto, Peru
| | - João Valsecchi
- Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development (IDSM), Tefé, AM, Brazil; ComFauna, Comunidad de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y en Latinoamérica, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru
| | - Pedro Mayor
- Federal Rural University of the Amazon (UFRA), Postgraduate Program in Animal Health and Production in Amazonia (PPGSPAA), Belém, PA, Brazil; ComFauna, Comunidad de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y en Latinoamérica, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru; FUNDAMAZONIA, Iquitos, Loreto, Peru; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Departament de Sanitat i d'Anatomia Animals, Facultat de Veterinària, Barcelona, Spain.
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Bodmer R, Mayor P, Antunez M, Chota K, Fang T, Puertas P, Pittet M, Kirkland M, Walkey M, Rios C, Perez-Peña P, Henderson P, Bodmer W, Bicerra A, Zegarra J, Docherty E. Major shifts in Amazon wildlife populations from recent intensification of floods and drought. Conserv Biol 2018; 32:333-344. [PMID: 28766738 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2016] [Revised: 07/09/2017] [Accepted: 07/10/2017] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
In the western Amazon Basin, recent intensification of river-level cycles has increased flooding during the wet seasons and decreased precipitation during the dry season. Greater than normal floods occurred in 2009 and in all years from 2011 to 2015 during high-water seasons, and a drought occurred during the 2010 low-water season. During these years, we surveyed populations of terrestrial, arboreal, and aquatic wildlife in a seasonally flooded Amazonian forest in the Loreto region of Peru (99,780 km2 ) to study the effects of intensification of natural climatic fluctuations on wildlife populations and in turn effects on resource use by local people. Shifts in fish and terrestrial mammal populations occurred during consecutive years of high floods and the drought of 2010. As floods intensified, terrestrial mammal populations decreased by 95%. Fish, waterfowl, and otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) abundances increased during years of intensive floods, whereas river dolphin and caiman populations had stable abundances. Arboreal species, including, macaws, game birds, primates, felids, and other arboreal mammals had stable populations and were not affected directly by high floods. The drought of 2010 had the opposite effect: fish, waterfowl, and dolphin populations decreased, and populations of terrestrial and arboreal species remained stable. Ungulates and large rodents are important sources of food and income for local people, and large declines in these animals has shifted resource use of people living in the flooded forests away from hunting to a greater reliance on fish.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Bodmer
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NS, United Kingdom
- FundAmazonia, Museum of Amazonian Indigenous Cultures, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru
| | - Pedro Mayor
- FundAmazonia, Museum of Amazonian Indigenous Cultures, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru
- Departament de Sanitat i Anatomia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
| | - Miguel Antunez
- FundAmazonia, Museum of Amazonian Indigenous Cultures, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru
| | - Kimberlyn Chota
- FundAmazonia, Museum of Amazonian Indigenous Cultures, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru
| | - Tula Fang
- FundAmazonia, Museum of Amazonian Indigenous Cultures, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru
| | - Pablo Puertas
- FundAmazonia, Museum of Amazonian Indigenous Cultures, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru
| | - Marlini Pittet
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NS, United Kingdom
| | - Maire Kirkland
- FundAmazonia, Museum of Amazonian Indigenous Cultures, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru
| | - Mike Walkey
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NS, United Kingdom
| | - Claudia Rios
- Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas, Jorge Chávez No. 930-942 - Iquitos, Peru
| | - Pedro Perez-Peña
- Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana, Av. José A. Quiñones km 2.5, Iquitos, Loreto, Perú
| | - Peter Henderson
- PISCES Conservation Ltd., IRC House, Pennington, Hants SO41 8GN, United Kingdom
| | - William Bodmer
- FundAmazonia, Museum of Amazonian Indigenous Cultures, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru
| | - Andy Bicerra
- FundAmazonia, Museum of Amazonian Indigenous Cultures, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru
| | - Joseph Zegarra
- FundAmazonia, Museum of Amazonian Indigenous Cultures, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru
| | - Emma Docherty
- FundAmazonia, Museum of Amazonian Indigenous Cultures, 332 Malecon Tarapaca, Iquitos, Peru
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10
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Blice‐Baum A, Viswanathan M, Mullinax B, Zambon A, Kaushik G, Engler A, Bodmer R, Cammarato A. Heart‐Specific Overexpression of FOXO Ameliorates Performance Decline through Enhanced UPS Processing in Aging Drosophila. FASEB J 2015. [DOI: 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.726.10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - R Bodmer
- NASCR Sanford‐Burnham MRILa JollaCAUnited States
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11
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Puertas P, Bodmer R, Calle A, Del Aquila J. LA IMPORTANCIA DEL MANEJO COMUNAL PARA LA CONSERVACIÓN DE LA FAUNA SILVESTRE EN LAS ÁREAS NATURALES PROTEGIDAS DEL NORORIENTE PERUANO. Rev peru biol 2014. [DOI: 10.15381/rpb.v7i2.6829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
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12
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Pickles RSA, Groombridge JJ, Zambrana Rojas VD, Van Damme P, Gottelli D, Kundu S, Bodmer R, Ariani CV, Iyengar A, Jordan WC. Evolutionary history and identification of conservation units in the giant otter, Pteronura brasiliensis. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2011; 61:616-27. [PMID: 21925282 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2011.08.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2010] [Revised: 08/01/2011] [Accepted: 08/17/2011] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The giant otter, Pteronura brasiliensis, occupies a range including the major drainage basins of South America, yet the degree of structure that exists within and among populations inhabiting these drainages is unknown. We sequenced portions of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) cytochrome b (612bp) and control region (383 bp) genes in order to determine patterns of genetic variation within the species. We found high levels of mtDNA haplotype diversity (h = 0.93 overall) and support for subdivision into four distinct groups of populations, representing important centers of genetic diversity and useful units for prioritizing conservation within the giant otter. We tested these results against the predictions of three hypotheses of Amazonian diversification (Pleistocene Refugia, Paleogeography, and Hydrogeology). While the phylogeographic pattern conformed to the predictions of the Refugia Hypothesis, molecular dating using a relaxed clock revealed the phylogroups diverged from one another between 1.69 and 0.84 Ma, ruling out the influence of Late Pleistocene glacial refugia. However, the role of Plio-Pleistocene climate change could not be rejected. While the molecular dating also makes the influence of geological arches according to the Paleogeography Hypothesis extremely unlikely, the recent Pliocene formation of the Fitzcarrald Arch and its effect of subsequently altering drainage pattern could not be rejected. The data presented here support the interactions of both climatic and hydrological changes resulting from geological activity in the Plio-Pleistocene, in shaping the phylogeographic structure of the giant otter.
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Affiliation(s)
- R S A Pickles
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, United Kingdom.
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13
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Abstract
Primates living in large groups that divide to forage must have social systems compatible with this mode of living. Uakari monkeys (Cacajao spp.) live in large groups and exhibit a form of fission-fusion grouping, but their social organization is poorly understood. We present some of the first data on social behavior for this genus based on a study on Cacajao calvus ucayalii. They traveled in multimale multifemale groups of highly variable sizes, with bachelor units on the periphery. Adult males were affiliative, and adult females associated with more than one adult male. Adult females typically traveled with their dependent offspring and an older juvenile within the group. In parties of two or more males, individuals engaged in previously unreported display behaviors and acted together to aggressively chase other males. Breeding was seasonal, and mating occurred away from other group members. We speculate on the social organization of C. calvus ucayalii, in which dispersal may be bisexual and peripheral males are affiliative with one another. Affiliated males appear to cooperate in fighting and displaying to other males for access to females during the breeding season.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Bowler
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom.
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14
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Bowler M, Noriega Murrieta J, Recharte M, Puertas P, Bodmer R. Peruvian Red Uakari Monkeys (Cacajao Calvus Ucayalii) in the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve — A Range Extension Across a Major River Barrier. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009. [DOI: 10.1896/044.016.0108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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15
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Leal SM, Qian L, Lacin H, Bodmer R, Skeath JB. Neuromancer1 and Neuromancer2 regulate cell fate specification in the developing embryonic CNS of Drosophila melanogaster. Dev Biol 2008; 325:138-50. [PMID: 19013145 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2008.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2008] [Revised: 10/01/2008] [Accepted: 10/02/2008] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
T-box genes encode a large family of transcription factors that regulate many developmental processes in vertebrates and invertebrates. In addition to their roles in regulating embryonic heart and epidermal development in Drosophila, we provide evidence that the T-box transcription factors neuromancer1 (nmr1) and neuromancer2 (nmr2) play key roles in embryonic CNS development. We verify that nmr1 and nmr2 function in a partially redundant manner to regulate neuronal cell fate by inhibiting even-skipped (eve) expression in specific cells in the CNS. Consistent with their redundant function, nmr1 and nmr2 exhibit overlapping yet distinct protein expression profiles within the CNS. Of note, nmr2 transcript and protein are expressed in identical patterns of segment polarity stripes, defined sets of neuroblasts, many ganglion mother cells and discrete populations of neurons. However, while we observe nmr1 transcripts in segment polarity stripes and specific neural precursors in early stages of CNS development, we first detect Nmr1 protein in later stages of CNS development where it is restricted to discrete subsets of Nmr2-positive neurons. Expression studies identify nearly all Nmr1/2 co-expressing neurons as interneurons, while a single Eve-positive U/CQ motor neuron weakly co-expresses Nmr2. Lineage studies map a subset of Nmr1/2-positive neurons to neuroblast lineages 2-2, 6-1, and 6-2 while genetic studies reveal that nmr2 collaborates with nkx6 to regulate eve expression in the CNS. Thus, nmr1 and nmr2 appear to act together as members of the combinatorial code of transcription factors that govern neuronal subtype identity in the CNS.
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Affiliation(s)
- S M Leal
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
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16
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Brewster R, Hardiman K, Deo M, Khan S, Bodmer R. The selector gene cut represses a neural cell fate that is specified independently of the Achaete-Scute-Complex and atonal. Mech Dev 2001; 105:57-68. [PMID: 11429282 DOI: 10.1016/s0925-4773(01)00375-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
The peripheral nervous system (PNS) of Drosophila offers a powerful system to precisely identify individual cells and dissect their genetic pathways of development. The mode of specification of a subset of larval PNS cells, the multiple dendritic (md) neurons (or type II neurons), is complex and still poorly understood. Within the dorsal thoracic and abdominal segments, two md neurons, dbd and dda1, apparently require the proneural gene amos but not atonal (ato) or Achaete-Scute-Complex (ASC) genes. ASC normally acts via the neural selector gene cut to specify appropriate sensory organ identities. Here, we show that dbd- and dda1-type differentiation is suppressed by cut in dorsal ASC-dependent md neurons. Thus, cut is not only required to promote an ASC-dependent mode of differentiation, but also represses an ASC- and ato-independent fate that leads to dbd and dda1 differentiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Brewster
- Department of Biology, The University of Michigan, 830 North University, 48109-1048, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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17
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Abstract
A Drosophila homolog of the serine/threonine kinase GSK-3 beta, encoded by the zest-white3/shaggy gene (zw3), has been implicated as a maternally provided antagonist of zygotic signaling by the secreted segmentation gene wingless (wg). The wg signal apparently causes a spatially localized inhibition of the ubiquitous repressor function of zw3. This double negative mechanism of signal transduction has been shown to mediate the patterning function of Wg in a number of developmental processes. Although wg is absolutely required for specifying the heart progenitors within the mesoderm of Drosophila, the role of zw3 in this process has been unclear. Here, we present evidence that zw3 has a dual role in mesoderm development: (1) zw3 acts as an antagonist in cardiogenic wg signal transduction, and (2) zw3 also seems to be required to promote positively the formation of a larger mesodermal region, the tinman- and dpp-dependent "dorsal mesoderm," which is a prerequisite not only for cardiogenesis, but also for visceral mesoderm formation. We also demonstrate that a recently identified proximal component of the wg cascade, which is a transcription factor encoded by pangolin/dTCF (dTCF), also seems to mediate wg-dependent cardiogenesis. Further, we present evidence that Notch (N), which opposes wg signaling in other situations, is unlikely to be directly involved in the cardiogenic wg pathway, but seems to have multiple other myogenic functions, one of which is to inhibit mesoderm differentiation altogether, when overexpressed as a constitutively active form.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Park
- Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-1048, USA
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18
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Abstract
Vertebrate and insect (Drosophila) hearts look and function quite differently from each other. Nevertheless, during embryogenesis their mesodermal origin and initial assembly into a linear heart tube are comparable in many respects. In the past few years, numerous gene functions have been identified that are utilized by both vertebrates and Drosophila for the specification and differentiation of the heart progenitor cells. These studies have begun with the discovery of the homeobox gene tinman in Drosophila and its vertebrate counterparts. By now, there is also evidence that MEF2 transcription factors and TGF-beta signaling have cardiogenic functions in both these systems. Perhaps in a few years, the GATA and HAND transcription factors and Wnt signaling, which currently only have a demonstrated cardiogenic function in one of the systems, may also be part of this group. One of the pressing but still wide open questions is if the spectrum of targets for these transcription factors and signaling pathways is also conserved.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Bodmer
- Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-1048, USA.
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19
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Venkatesh TV, Park M, Ocorr K, Nemaceck J, Golden K, Wemple M, Bodmer R. Cardiac enhancer activity of the homeobox gene tinman depends on CREB consensus binding sites in Drosophila. Genesis 2000; 26:55-66. [PMID: 10660673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/15/2023]
Abstract
The Drosophila homeobox gene tinman plays a critical role in subdividing the early mesoderm. In particular, tinman is absolutely required for formation of the heart and visceral mesoderm. tinman expression is initiated throughout the mesoderm of the trunk region under the control of the bHLH transcription factor encoded by the twist gene, a determinant of all mesoderm. Later, tinman expression is restricted to the dorsal portion of the mesoderm, a process that is directed by decapentaplegic (dpp) whose product (a TGF-beta-related protein) is secreted by the overlaying ectoderm. Further restriction of tinman expression to the cardiac progenitors, in which it will persist throughout development, involves the secreted segmentation gene product encoded by wingless (wg, a Drosophila Wnt gene). Here, we show that strong early expression depends on the synergistic action of an enhancer element at the 5' end of the gene in conjunction with an element in the first intron. Moreover, two distinct enhancer regions are responsible for tinman expression in the heart: one region confers expression in the heart-tube-associated pericardial cells, the other element drives expression in the contractile, myocardial cells. The latter element contains two CREB consensus binding sites that are essential for cardiac-specific expression. genesis 26:55-66, 2000.
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Affiliation(s)
- T V Venkatesh
- Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1048, USA
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20
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Abstract
We report the application of TaqMan quantitative PCR (QPCR) to map Drosophila chromosome deficiencies by discrimination of twofold copy number differences. For a model system, we used this technology to confirm the X chromosomal mapping of Dspt6 given the autosomal mapping of Dspt4. We then used this technique on both preexisting deletion mutant flies and flies that we generated with deletions to demonstrate the presence or absence of Dspt6, Dspt4, and swa in various deletion mutant flies. In contrast with in situ hybridization studies, QPCR both vitiates the need to do these more intricate studies, and it is more accurate as the site of deletion can be known down to the 10(2)-bp level. We then successfully applied the technique to the analysis of transcription, demonstrating that the amount of Dspt6 or Dspt4 transcriptional product depended directly on the dosage of the Dspt6 or Dspt4 gene, respectively. The rapidity and precision of this method demonstrates its applicability in Drosophila genetics, the rapid and accurate mapping of Drosophila deletion mutants.
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Affiliation(s)
- P W Chiang
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-0650, USA.
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21
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Verschueren K, Remacle JE, Collart C, Kraft H, Baker BS, Tylzanowski P, Nelles L, Wuytens G, Su MT, Bodmer R, Smith JC, Huylebroeck D. SIP1, a novel zinc finger/homeodomain repressor, interacts with Smad proteins and binds to 5'-CACCT sequences in candidate target genes. J Biol Chem 1999; 274:20489-98. [PMID: 10400677 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.274.29.20489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 381] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Activation of transforming growth factor beta receptors causes the phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of Smad proteins, which then participate in the regulation of expression of target genes. We describe a novel Smad-interacting protein, SIP1, which was identified using the yeast two-hybrid system. Although SIP1 interacts with the MH2 domain of receptor-regulated Smads in yeast and in vitro, its interaction with full-length Smads in mammalian cells requires receptor-mediated Smad activation. SIP1 is a new member of the deltaEF1/Zfh-1 family of two-handed zinc finger/homeodomain proteins. Like deltaEF1, SIP1 binds to 5'-CACCT sequences in different promoters, including the Xenopus brachyury promoter. Overexpression of either full-length SIP1 or its C-terminal zinc finger cluster, which bind to the Xbra2 promoter in vitro, prevented expression of the endogenous Xbra gene in early Xenopus embryos. Therefore, SIP1, like deltaEF1, is likely to be a transcriptional repressor, which may be involved in the regulation of at least one immediate response gene for activin-dependent signal transduction pathways. The identification of this Smad-interacting protein opens new routes to investigate the mechanisms by which transforming growth factor beta members exert their effects on expression of target genes in responsive cells and in the vertebrate embryo.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Verschueren
- Department of Cell Growth, Differentiation and Development (VIB-07), Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), Herestraat49, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
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22
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Su MT, Fujioka M, Goto T, Bodmer R. The Drosophila homeobox genes zfh-1 and even-skipped are required for cardiac-specific differentiation of a numb-dependent lineage decision. Development 1999; 126:3241-51. [PMID: 10375513 DOI: 10.1242/dev.126.14.3241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
A series of inductive signals are necessary to subdivide the mesoderm in order to allow the formation of the progenitor cells of the heart. Mesoderm-endogenous transcription factors, such as those encoded by twist and tinman, seem to cooperate with these signals to confer correct context and competence for a cardiac cell fate. Additional factors are likely to be required for the appropriate specification of individual cell types within the forming heart. Similar to tinman, the zinc finger- and homeobox-containing gene, zfh-1, is expressed in the early mesoderm and later in the forming heart, suggesting a possible role in heart development. Here, we show that zfh-1 is specifically required for formation of the even-skipped (eve)-expressing subset of pericardial cells (EPCs), without affecting the formation of their siblings, the founders of a dorsal body wall muscle (DA1). In addition to zfh-1, mesodermal eve itself appears to be needed for correct EPC differentiation, possibly as a direct target of zfh-1. Epistasis experiments show that zfh-1 specifies EPC development independently of numb, the lineage gene that controls DA1 founder versus EPC cell fate. We discuss the combinatorial control mechanisms that specify the EPC cell fate in a spatially precise pattern within the embryo.
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Affiliation(s)
- M T Su
- Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048, USA
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23
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Venkatesh TV, Holland ND, Holland LZ, Su MT, Bodmer R. Sequence and developmental expression of amphioxus AmphiNk2-1: insights into the evolutionary origin of the vertebrate thyroid gland and forebrain. Dev Genes Evol 1999; 209:254-9. [PMID: 10079369 DOI: 10.1007/s004270050250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
We characterized an amphioxus NK-2 homeobox gene (AmphiNk2-1), a homologue of vertebrate Nkx2-1, which is involved in the development of the central nervous system and thyroid gland. At the early neurula stage of amphioxus, AmphiNk2-1 expression is first detected medially in the neural plate. By the mid-neurula stage, expression is localized ventrally in the nerve cord and also begins in the endoderm. During the late neurula stage, the ventral neural expression becomes transiently segmented posteriorly and is then down-regulated except in the cerebral vesicle at the anterior end of the central nervous system. Within the cerebral vesicle AmphiNk2-1 is expressed in a broad ventral domain, probably comprising both the floor plate and basal plate regions; this pattern is comparable to Nkx2-1 expression in the mouse diencephalon. In the anterior part of the gut, expression becomes intense in the endostyle (the right wall of the pharynx), which is the presumed homologue of the vertebrate thyroid gland. More posteriorly, there is transitory expression in the midgut and hindgut. In sum, the present results help to support homologies (1) between the amphioxus endostyle and the vertebrate thyroid gland and (2) between the amphioxus cerebral vesicle and the vertebrate diencephalic forebrain.
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MESH Headings
- Amino Acid Sequence
- Animals
- Chordata, Nonvertebrate/chemistry
- Chordata, Nonvertebrate/embryology
- Chordata, Nonvertebrate/genetics
- DNA, Complementary/chemistry
- DNA, Complementary/genetics
- Drosophila Proteins
- Embryo, Nonmammalian/metabolism
- Evolution, Molecular
- Female
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
- Genes, Homeobox/genetics
- Homeodomain Proteins/genetics
- In Situ Hybridization
- Male
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Prosencephalon/metabolism
- Sequence Alignment
- Sequence Analysis, DNA
- Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
- Thyroid Gland/metabolism
- Transcription Factors
- Vertebrates/genetics
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Affiliation(s)
- T V Venkatesh
- Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048, USA
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24
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Abstract
In an effort to isolate genes required for heart development and to further our understanding of cardiac specification at the molecular level, we screened PlacZ enhancer trap lines for expression in the Drosophila heart. One of the lines generated in this screen, designated B2-2-15, was particularly interesting because of its early pattern of expression in cardiac precursor cells, which is dependent on the homeobox gene tinman, a key determinant of heart development in Drosophila. We isolated and characterized a gene in the vicinity of B2-2-15 that exhibits an identical expression pattern than the reporter gene of the enhancer trap. The product of his gene, apontic (apt; see also "Gellon et al., 1997"), does not appear to have any homology with known genes. apt mutant embryos show distinct abnormalities in heart morphology as early as mid-embryonic stages when the heart tube assembles, in that segments of heart cells (those of myocardial and pericardial identity) are often missing. Most strikingly, however, apt mutant embryos or larvae only develop a much reduced heart rate, perhaps because of defects in the assembly of an intact heart tube and/or because of defects in the function or physiological control of the myocardial cells, which normally mediate heart contractions. These cardiac defects may be the cause of death of these mutants during late embryonic or early larval stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- M T Su
- Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-1048, USA
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25
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Park M, Lewis C, Turbay D, Chung A, Chen JN, Evans S, Breitbart RE, Fishman MC, Izumo S, Bodmer R. Differential rescue of visceral and cardiac defects in Drosophila by vertebrate tinman-related genes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1998; 95:9366-71. [PMID: 9689086 PMCID: PMC21344 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.95.16.9366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
tinman, a mesodermal NK2-type homeobox gene, is absolutely required for the subdivision of the early Drosophila mesoderm and for the formation of the heart as well as the visceral muscle primordia. Several vertebrate relatives of tinman, many of which are predominately expressed in the very early cardiac progenitors (and pharyngeal endoderm), also seem to promote heart development. Here, we show that most of these vertebrate tinman-related genes can readily substitute for Drosophila tinman function in promoting visceral mesoderm-specific marker gene expression, but much less in promoting cardiac-specific gene expression indicative of heart development. In addition, another mesodermal NK2-type gene from Drosophila, bagpipe, which is normally only needed for visceral mesoderm but not heart development, cannot substitute for tinman at all. These data indicate that the functional equivalence of the tinman-related subclass of NK2-type genes (in activating markers of visceral mesoderm development in Drosophila) is specific to this subclass and distinct from other homeobox genes. Despite the apparent overall conservation of heart development between vertebrates and invertebrates, the differential rescue of visceral mesoderm versus heart development suggests that some of the molecular mechanisms of organ formation may have diverged during evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Park
- Department of Biology, University of Michigan, 830 N. University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048, USA
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26
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Affiliation(s)
- M T Su
- Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-1048, USA
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27
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Abstract
In Drosophila, much has been learned about the specification of neuronal cell fates but little is known about the lineage of mesodermal cells with different developmental fates. Initially in development, individual mesodermal precursor cells are singled out to become the founder cells for specific muscles. The selection of muscle founder cells is thought to employ a Notch-mediated process of lateral inhibition, similar to what is observed for the specification of neural precursors. These muscle founder cells then seem to fuse with the surrounding, uncommitted myocytes inducing the formation of muscle fiber syncytia. In contrast, the differentiated progeny of neural precursor cells are usually the result of a fixed pattern of asymmetric cell divisions which are directed, in part, by interactions between numb, a localized intracellular-receptor protein, sanpodo (spdo), a potential tropomodulin homolog, and Notch, a transmembrane receptor protein. Here, we have investigated the role of these neural lineage genes in the cell fate specification of muscle and heart precursors. In particular, we have focused on a progenitor cell that is likely to produce a mixed lineage, generating both a pericardial heart cell and a somatic muscle founder cell. We show that the asymmetric segregation of Numb into one of these daughter cells antagonizes the function of Notch and spdo by preventing the presumptive muscle founder from assuming the same fate as its cardiac sibling. Our results suggest that asymmetric cell divisions, in addition to the previously-documented inductive mechanisms, play a major role in cardiac and somatic muscle patterning and that additionally the cytoskeleton may have a role in the asymmetrical localization of cell fate determinants.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Park
- Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048, USA
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28
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Affiliation(s)
- M T Su
- Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-1048, USA.
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29
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Yaich L, Ooi J, Park M, Borg JP, Landry C, Bodmer R, Margolis B. Functional analysis of the Numb phosphotyrosine-binding domain using site-directed mutagenesis. J Biol Chem 1998; 273:10381-8. [PMID: 9553095 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.273.17.10381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
The Numb protein is involved in cell fate determination during Drosophila neural development. Numb has a protein domain homologous to the phosphotyrosine-binding domain (PTB) in the adaptor protein Shc. In Shc, this domain interacts with specific phosphotyrosine containing motifs on receptor tyrosine kinases and other signaling molecules. Residues N-terminal to the phosphotyrosine are also crucial for phosphopeptide binding to the Shc PTB domain. Several amino acid residues in Shc have been implicated by site-directed mutagenesis to be critical for Shc binding to receptor tyrosine kinases. We have generated homologous mutations in Numb to test whether, in vivo, these changes affect Numb function during Drosophila sensory organ development. Two independent amino acid changes that interfere with Shc binding to phosphotyrosine residues do not affect Numb activity in vivo. In contrast, a mutation shown to abrogate the ability of the Shc PTB domain to bind residues upstream of the phosphotyrosine virtually eliminates Numb function. Similar results were observed in vitro by examining the binding of the Numb PTB domain to proteins from Schneider S2 cells. Our data confirm the importance of the PTB domain for Numb function but strongly suggest that the Numb PTB domain is not involved in phosphotyrosine-dependent interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Yaich
- Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
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Holland LZ, Venkatesh TV, Gorlin A, Bodmer R, Holland ND. Characterization and developmental expression of AmphiNk2-2, an NK2 class homeobox gene from Amphioxus. (Phylum Chordata; Subphylum Cephalochordata). Dev Genes Evol 1998; 208:100-5. [PMID: 9569351 DOI: 10.1007/s004270050159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The genome of amphioxus includes AmphiNk2-2, the first gene of the NK2 homeobox class to be demonstrated in any invertebrate deuterostome. AmphiNk2-2 encodes a protein with a TN domain, homeodomain, and NK2-specific domain; on the basis of amino acid identities in these conserved regions, AmphiNk2-2 is a homolog of Drosophila vnd and vertebrate Nkx2-2. During amphioxus development, expression of Amph- iNk2-2 is first detected ventrally in the endoderm of late gastrulae. In neurulae, endodermal expression divides into three domains (the pharynx, midgut, and hindgut), and neural expression commences in two longitudinal bands of cells in the anterior neural tube. These neural tube cells occupy a ventrolateral position on either side of the cerebral vesicle (the probable homolog of the vertebrate diencephalic forebrain). The dynamic expression patterns of AmphiNkx2-2 suggest successive roles, first in regionalizing the endoderm and nervous system and later during differentiation of specific cell types in the gut (possibly peptide endocrine cells) and brain (possibly including axon outgrowth and guidance).
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Affiliation(s)
- L Z Holland
- Division of Marine Biology, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 19093-0202, USA
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31
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Collier MR, Hamilton DC, Gloeckler G, Ho G, Bochsler P, Bodmer R, Sheldon R. Oxygen 16 to oxygen 18 abundance ratio in the solar wind observed by Wind/MASS. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1998. [DOI: 10.1029/97ja02245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Quaggin SE, Heuvel GB, Golden K, Bodmer R, Igarashi P. Primary structure, neural-specific expression, and chromosomal localization of Cux-2, a second murine homeobox gene related to Drosophila cut. J Biol Chem 1996; 271:22624-34. [PMID: 8798433 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.271.37.22624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The cut locus of Drosophila encodes a diverged homeodomain-containing protein that is required for the development of external sensory (es) organs and other tissues. A homologous gene (Cux-1) that encodes a transcriptional repressor has been identified in the mouse and other mammals. We have identified a second murine homeobox-containing gene (designated Cux-2) that is structurally related to Drosophila cut. The murine Cux-2 homeobox was similar to Drosophila cut and encoded a homeodomain that contained a characteristic histidine residue at position 50. The predicted Cux-2 protein contained 1426 amino acids and included three internal 60-amino acid repeats (Cut repeats) that were previously found in Drosophila Cut and murine Cux-1. Unlike Cux-1, expression of Cux-2 was restricted to neural tissue. In the adult brain, Cux-2 was prominently expressed in neurons in the thalamus and limbic system. In embryos, Cux-2 was expressed in the developing central and peripheral nervous systems, including the telencephalon and peripheral ganglia of the trigeminal and glossopharyngeal nerves. A glutathione S-transferase fusion protein containing the carboxyl-terminal Cut repeat and homeodomain of Cux-2 exhibited sequence-specific binding to oligonucleotides derived from the promoter of the Ncam gene. Using an interspecific backcross panel, Cux-1 and Cux-2 were mapped to distinct loci that were genetically linked on distal chromosome 5. These results demonstrate that a family of homeobox genes related to Drosophila cut is located on chromosome 5 in the mouse. Cux-2 is expressed exclusively in the central and peripheral nervous systems, and the Cux-2 gene product binds to DNA in a sequence-specific manner. Cux-2 may encode a transcription factor that is involved in neural specification in mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- S E Quaggin
- Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
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33
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Salzberg A, Golden K, Bodmer R, Bellen HJ. gutfeeling, a Drosophila gene encoding an antizyme-like protein, is required for late differentiation of neurons and muscles. Genetics 1996; 144:183-96. [PMID: 8878684 PMCID: PMC1207492 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/144.1.183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The gutfeeling (guf) gene was uncovered in a genetic screen for genes that are required for proper development of the embryonic peripheral nervous system. Mutations in guf cause defects in growth cone guidance and fasciculation and loss of expression of several neuronal markers in the embryonic peripheral and central nervous systems. guf is required for terminal differentiation of neuronal cells. Mutations in guf also affect the development of muscles in the embryo. In the absence or guf activity, myoblasts are formed properly, but myoblast fusion and further differentiation of muscle fibers is severely impaired. The guf gene was cloned and found to encode a 21-kD protein with a significant sequence similarity to the mammalian ornithine decarboxylase antizyme (OAZ). In mammals, OAZ plays a key regulatory role in the polyamine biosynthetic pathway through its binding to, and inhibition of, ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the first enzyme in the pathway. The elaborate regulation of ODC activity in mammals still lacks a defined developmental role and little is known about the involvement of polyamines in cellular differentiation. GUF is the first antizyme-like protein identified in invertebrates. We discuss its possible developmental roles in light of this homology.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Salzberg
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA
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34
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Vanden Heuvel GB, Bodmer R, McConnell KR, Nagami GT, Igarashi P. Expression of a cut-related homeobox gene in developing and polycystic mouse kidney. Kidney Int 1996; 50:453-61. [PMID: 8840273 DOI: 10.1038/ki.1996.336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Cut is a diverged homeobox gene that is essential for normal development of the Malpighian tubules in Drosophila melanogaster. Homologues of Drosophila cut that encode transcriptional repressors have been identified in several mammalian species and cell lineages. We examined the expression of a murine cut homologue (named Cux-1) in the developing mouse using Northern blot analysis and in situ hybridization. At 12.5 d.p.c. and 13.5 d.p.c., Cux-1 was highly expressed in a subset of embryonic tissues, including the developing metanephros. Within the metanephros, Cux-1 was expressed in the nephrogenic zone including both mesenchymal cells (uninduced and condensed mesenchyme) and epithelial cells (ureteric buds, renal vesicles, S-shaped bodies). During later stages of nephrogenesis, Cux-1 was down-regulated such that there was minimal expression in mature glomeruli and tubules. In addition, Cux-1 was detected in the mesonephros, mesonephric duct, and bladder. Expression of Cux-1 was also examined in polycystic kidneys from C57BL/6J-cpk/ cpk mice. At 21 days of age, Cux-1 was highly expressed in cyst epithelium of polycystic kidneys but was minimally expressed in kidneys from phenotypically normal littermates. These results demonstrate that a cut-related homeobox gene is expressed in the developing kidney and urinary tract of the mouse. Expression of Cux-1 in the kidney is inversely related to degree of cellular differentiation. Cux-1 may encode a transcriptional repressor that inhibits terminally differentiated gene expression during early stages of nephrogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- G B Vanden Heuvel
- Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
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35
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Abstract
Heart development in both vertebrates and Drosophila is initiated by bilaterally symmetrical primordia that may be of equivalent embryological origin: the anterior lateral plate mesoderm in vertebrates and the dorsal-most mesoderm in arthropods. These mesodermal progenitors then merge into a heart tube at the ventral midline (vertebrates) or the dorsal midline (Drosophila). These observations suggest that there may be similarities between vertebrate and invertebrate heart development. The homeobox gene, tinman, is required for heart as well as visceral mesoderm formation in Drosophila, and at least one of several vertebrate genes with similarities in protein sequence and cardiac expression to tinman is crucial for heart development in vertebrates. Inductive signals are also required for Drosophila heart development: The secreted gene product of wingless (wg) is critical for heart development during a time period distinct from its function in segmentation and neurogenesis. Here, we show that wg is epistatic to hedgehog (hh), another secreted segmentation gene product, in its requirement for heart formation. We also provide evidence show that downstream of wg in the signal transduction cascade, dishevelled (dsh, a pioneer protein) and armadillo (arm, beta-catenin homolog) are mediating the cardiogenic Wg signal. In particular, overexpression of dsh can restore heart formation in the absence of wg function. We discuss the possibility that Wg signaling is part of a combinatorial mechanism to specify the cardiac mesoderm.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Park
- Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109-1048, USA
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36
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Abstract
The peripheral nervous system (PNS) of Drosophila provides a very well-characterized model system for studying the genes involved in basic processes of neurogenesis. Because of its simplicity and stereotyped pattern, each cell of the PNS can be individually identified and the phenotypic consequences of mutations can be studied in detail. Thus, some of the genetic mechanisms leading to the formation of type I sensory organs, the external, bristle-type sensory organs (es), and the internal, stretch-receptive chordotonal organs (ch) have been elucidated. Each sensory organ seems to be generated by a stereotyped pattern of cell division of individual ectodermal precursor cells. Recent advances in cell lineage analysis of the PNS have provided a detailed picture of almost all the lineages in the PNS, including those giving rise to the type II sensory neurons, also known as multiple dendritic (md) neurons. This knowledge will be instrumental in the precise characterization of the phenotypes associated with mutations in known and new genes and their interactions which determine cell fate decisions during neurogenesis. Here, we describe and compare three recently developed methods by which cell lineages have been assessed: single cell transplantation, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation studies, and the flp/FRT recombinase system from yeast. In the light of a more complete knowledge of the PNS lineages, we will discuss the effects of known mutations that alter neuronal cell fates.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Brewster
- Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
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37
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Abstract
The mesoderm of Drosophila embryos is segmented; for instance there are segmentally arranged clusters of cells (some of which are heart precursors) that express even-skipped. Expression of even-skipped depends on Wingless, a secreted molecule. In principle, Wingless could act directly in the mesoderm or it could induce the pattern after crossing from ectoderm to mesoderm. Using mosaic embryos, we show that Wingless produced in the mesoderm is sufficient for even-skipped expression. This proves that induction is not essential. However, induction can occur: when patches of wingless mutant mesoderm are overlaid by wild-type ectoderm, they do express even-skipped. We therefore believe that Wingless from both the ectoderm and mesoderm may contribute to patterning the mesoderm. Using the UAS/Gal4 system, we made embryos in which the Wingless protein is uniformly expressed. This is sufficient to rescue the repeated clusters of even-skipped expressing cells, although they are enlarged. We conclude that the mesoderm is segmented in some way not dependent on the distribution of Wingless, suggesting a more permissive and less instructive role for the protein in this instance.
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Affiliation(s)
- P A Lawrence
- Medical Research Council, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK
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38
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Abstract
Although the genetics of dorsal-ventral polarity which leads to mesoderm formation in Drosophila are understood in considerable detail, subsequent molecular mechanisms involved in patterning the mesoderm primordium into individual mesodermal subtypes are poorly understood. Two papers published recently suggest strongly that an inductive signal from dorsal ectoderm is involved in subdividing the underlying mesoderm, and present evidence that one of the signalling factors is Decapentaplegic (Dpp), a member of the bone morphogenetic protein subgroup of the Transforming Growth Factor-beta (TGF-beta) super family of proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- T V Venkatesh
- Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, USA
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39
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Abstract
The peripheral nervous system (PNS) of Drosophila is a preferred model for studying the genetic basis of neurogenesis because its simple and stereotyped pattern makes it ideal for mutant analysis. Type I sensory organs, the external (bristle-type) sensory organs (es) and the internal (stretch-receptive) chordotonal organs (ch), have been postulated to derive from individual ectodermal precursor cells that undergo a stereotyped pattern of cell division. Little is known about the origin and specification of type II sensory neurons, the multiple dendritic (md) neurons. Using the flp/FRT recombinase system from yeast, we have determined that a subset of md neurons derives from es organ lineages, another subset derives from ch organ lineages and a third subset is unrelated to sensory organs. We also provide evidence that the genes, numb and cut, are both required for the proper differentiation of md neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Brewster
- Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-1048, USA
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40
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Abstract
Mesoderm induction has been studied in many systems and some of the factors involved have been identified. Although the heart is mesodermal in origin, the molecular basis of heart development is essentially unknown. The Drosophila heart is a simple tubular structure similar to the early heart tube in vertebrates. The homeobox gene, tinman, has been shown to be crucial for heart formation in Drosophila. Several genes with considerable sequence similarities to tinman are expressed in cardiac primordial tissue of vertebrates and are likely to be required for heart development of higher organisms as well. In addition to transcriptional control factors, heart development might also depend on inductive signals. Here, we demonstrate that the gene wingless (wg), which is known to specify segmental polarity and neuroblast identity in Drosophila, has a novel role in mesoderm development: wg function is specifically required for heart development. A temperature-sensitive mutation of wg was used to inactivate wg function during precise developmental time periods. Elimination of wg function for a short time period after gastrulation results in the selective loss of heart precursors, without significantly affecting the formation of the body wall or visceral muscles, although some pattern defects are observed. This developmental requirement of wg for cardiac organogenesis is distinct from its function in segmentation and neurogenesis. We conclude that wg signaling is a crucial component of heart formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- X Wu
- Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-1048, USA
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41
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Bour BA, O'Brien MA, Lockwood WL, Goldstein ES, Bodmer R, Taghert PH, Abmayr SM, Nguyen HT. Drosophila MEF2, a transcription factor that is essential for myogenesis. Genes Dev 1995; 9:730-41. [PMID: 7729689 DOI: 10.1101/gad.9.6.730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 345] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
mef2 encodes the only apparent Drosophila homolog of the vertebrate myocyte-specific enhancer factor 2 (MEF2). We show herein that the Drosophila MEF2 protein is expressed throughout the mesoderm following gastrulation. Later in embryogenesis, its expression is maintained in precursors and differentiated cells of the somatic and visceral musculature, as well as the heart. We have characterized genetic deficiencies and EMS-induced point mutations that result in complete loss of MEF2 protein in homozygous mutant embryos. These embryos exhibit a dramatic absence of myosin heavy chain (MHC)-expressing myoblasts and lack differentiated muscle fibers. Examination of earlier events of muscle development indicates that the specification and early differentiation of somatic muscle precursors are not affected because even-skipped-, nautilus-, and beta 3-tubulin-expressing myoblasts are present. However, these partially differentiated cells are unable to undergo further differentiation to form muscle fibers in the absence of mef2. The later aspects of differentiation of the visceral mesoderm and the heart are also disrupted in mef2 mutant embryos, although the specification and early development of these tissues appear unaffected. Midgut morphogenesis is disrupted in the mutant embryos, presumably as a consequence of abnormal development of the visceral mesoderm. In the heart, the cardial cells do not express MHC. These results indicate that MEF2 is required for later aspects of differentiation of the three major types of musculature, which include body wall muscles, gut musculature, and the heart, in the Drosophila embryo.
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Affiliation(s)
- B A Bour
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802, USA
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42
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Nguyen HT, Bodmer R, Abmayr SM, McDermott JC, Spoerel NA. D-mef2: a Drosophila mesoderm-specific MADS box-containing gene with a biphasic expression profile during embryogenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1994; 91:7520-4. [PMID: 8052612 PMCID: PMC44433 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.91.16.7520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
We have identified a mesoderm-specific Drosophila gene, designated D-mef2. The encoded protein contains the MADS- and MEF2-specific domains, which are characteristic of the myocyte-specific enhancer factor 2 (MEF2) family of transcription factors. D-mef2 RNA is first detectable in the presumptive mesoderm at late cellular blastoderm stage and is expressed in all mesoderm after invagination. Following the dorsal migration of the mesodermal layer, D-mef2 expression becomes restricted to the primordia for visceral muscle and the heart. In the second phase, D-mef2 expression is first distinct in heart precursors and then becomes prominent sequentially in visceral and somatic muscles. twi activity is required for D-mef2 expression, while sna function may be needed for the maintenance of D-mef2 expression but not its initiation. D-mef expression is not dependent on the function of tin, and embryos that are deficient for the mesodermal gene DFR1 also show normal initiation of D-mef2 expression at blastoderm. These results suggest that D-mef2 could have a function in early mesoderm differentiation and may be required for subsequent cell fate specifications within the somatic and visceral/heart mesodermal layers.
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Affiliation(s)
- H T Nguyen
- Department of Cardiology, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115
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43
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Abstract
The homeobox-containing gene tinman (msh-2, Bodmer et al., 1990 Development 110, 661–669) is expressed in the mesoderm primordium, and this expression requires the function of the mesoderm determinant twist. Later in development, as the first mesodermal subdivisions are occurring, expression becomes limited to the visceral mesoderm and the heart. Here, I show that the function of tinman is required for visceral muscle and heart development. Embryos that are mutant for the tinman gene lack the appearance of visceral mesoderm and of heart primordia, and the fusion of the anterior and posterior endoderm is impaired. Even though tinman mutant embryos do not have a heart or visceral muscles, many of the somatic body wall muscles appear to develop although abnormally. When the tinman cDNA is ubiquitously expressed in tinman mutant embryos, via a heatshock promoter, formation of heart cells and visceral mesoderm is partially restored, tinman seems to be one of the earliest genes required for heart development and the first gene reported for which a crucial function in the early mesodermal subdivisions has been implicated.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Bodmer
- Department of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-1048
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Komuro I, Schalling M, Jahn L, Bodmer R, Jenkins NA, Copeland NG, Izumo S. Gtx: a novel murine homeobox-containing gene, expressed specifically in glial cells of the brain and germ cells of testis, has a transcriptional repressor activity in vitro for a serum-inducible promoter. EMBO J 1993; 12:1387-401. [PMID: 8096811 PMCID: PMC413350 DOI: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1993.tb05783.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Although it is likely that a highly complex network of transcription factors acts in concert during mammalian brain development, relatively few such genes have been characterized to date. We describe here a novel murine homeobox gene, denoted Gtx, which in adult animals is specifically expressed within glial cells of the central nervous system, including the forebrain, and in germ cells of the testis. Gtx resides on chromosome 7 and does not cosegregate with any previously mapped homeobox gene. The amino acid sequence of the predicted protein encoded by Gtx is highly divergent from that of any other known homeobox genes. The Gtx homeodomain contains unique residues at positions predicted to contact DNA bases. It did not bind to known target sites for other homeobox genes in vitro but bound with high affinity to the MEF-2 motif, a binding site for the serum response factor-related proteins. GTX efficiently competed with RSRF to bind the MEF-2 element in vitro. Co-transfection of Gtx prevented the serum-induced activation of the MEF-2-containing reporter genes. Although the true biological role of Gtx is not known, these results suggest that Gtx is a novel cell-type specific homeobox gene that has the potential to act as a transcriptional repressor for a subset of serum-inducible genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- I Komuro
- Molecular Medicine Division, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, MA
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45
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Rao Y, Bodmer R, Jan LY, Jan YN. The big brain gene of Drosophila functions to control the number of neuronal precursors in the peripheral nervous system. Development 1992; 116:31-40. [PMID: 1483394 DOI: 10.1242/dev.116.1.31] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
big brain (bib) is one of the six known zygotic neurogenic genes involved in the decision of an ectodermal cell to take on the neurogenic or the epidermogenic cell fate. Previous studies suggest that bib functions in a pathway separate from the one involving Notch and other known neurogenic genes. For a better understanding of the bib function, it is essential first to characterize the mutant phenotype in detail. Our mutant analyses show that loss of bib function approximately doubles the number of neuronal precursors and their progeny cells in the embryonic peripheral nervous system. Mosaic studies reveal a hypertrophy of sensory bristles in bib mutant patches in adult flies. Our observations are compatible with a function of bib in specifying neuronal precursors of both the embryonic and adult sensory nervous system. This is in contrast to the function of Notch, which continues to be required at multiple stages of neural development subsequent to this initial determination event.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y Rao
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0724
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46
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Bodmer R, Jan LY, Jan YN. A new homeobox-containing gene, msh-2, is transiently expressed early during mesoderm formation of Drosophila. Development 1990; 110:661-9. [PMID: 1982429 DOI: 10.1242/dev.110.3.661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 167] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Many homeobox-containing genes of Drosophila regulate pathways of differentiation. These proteins probably function as promoter- or enhancer-selective transcription factors. We have isolated a new homeobox-containing gene, msh-2, by means of the polymerase chain reactions (PCR) using redundant primers. msh-2 is specifically expressed in mesodermal primordia during a short time period early in development. It first appears at blastoderm stage just before the ventral invagination of the mesoderm and shortly after twist, a gene required for mesoderm formation, is expressed. During germband elongation all the mesodermal cells in the segmented part of the embryo express msh-2, but soon afterwards msh-2 becomes restricted to the dorsal mesoderm, which includes the primordia for the visceral musculature and the heart. Prior to muscle differentiation, msh-2 expression ceases, except for two rows of cells that will be included in the dorsal vessel. Embryos that are deficient for the chromosomal region, 93C-F, which includes the msh-2 gene, show normal mesoderm invagination and dorsal spreading. However, later in development no visceral muscle and dorsal vessel differentiation can be detected, but some skeletal muscles do form, albeit abnormally. msh-2 expression, except for a patch in the head, is dependent on twist function. On the other hand, snail, another mesoderm determinant, does not appear to be required for msh-2 initiation, but is necessary for the maintenance of msh-2 expression after germband elongation. H2.0, a homeo-box-containing gene specifically expressed in visceral mesoderm, is not transcribed in the mesoderm in 93C-F deficiency embryos.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Affiliation(s)
- R Bodmer
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, San Francisco, CA
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47
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Blochlinger K, Bodmer R, Jan LY, Jan YN. Patterns of expression of cut, a protein required for external sensory organ development in wild-type and cut mutant Drosophila embryos. Genes Dev 1990; 4:1322-31. [PMID: 1977661 DOI: 10.1101/gad.4.8.1322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 235] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
The loss of cut activity in Drosophila results in the transformation of the neurons and support cells of external sensory (es) organs into those of chordotonal (ch) organs. The cut locus encodes a homeo domain-containing protein, which is expressed in the cells of es, but not in ch, organs. We show by Western analyses the presence of two embryonic protein species whose approximate relative molecular masses of 280 and 320 kD are compatible with that predicted from the primary sequence. We also describe the development of the Cut protein expression pattern and show that Cut is expressed in sensory precursor cells that divide to give rise to es organs. Finally, we analyze the changes in the Cut expression pattern of several mutant alleles of the complex cut locus and show that the mutations affecting es organ development are associated with either altered protein distribution in the PNS or incorrect subcellular Cut protein localization.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Blochlinger
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, San Francisco, California
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48
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Abstract
Cell lineages that give rise to the PNS were studied using the thymidine analog 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) to visualized DNA replication immunocytochemically. The precursors of the PNS in the body segments of Drosophila embryos replicate their DNA in a spatially and temporally stereotyped pattern. The sequence of DNA replication within developing sensory organs suggests particular lineage relationships of the cells that constitute a sensory organ, i.e., neuron and associated support cells. In embryos that are mutant for the achaete-scute complex or daughterless, in which most or all of the PNS is missing, no BrdU-labeled cells were found in the appropriate regions, suggesting that these PNS precursors either do not form or fail to replicate. Thus, the BrdU technique allows determination as to whether a mutation affects the PNS precursors or terminal differentiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Bodmer
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco 94143
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49
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Abstract
Cell lineages that give rise to the PNS were studied using the thymidine analog 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) to visualized DNA replication immunocytochemically. The precursors of the PNS in the body segments of Drosophila embryos replicate their DNA in a spatially and temporally stereotyped pattern. The sequence of DNA replication within developing sensory organs suggests particular lineage relationships of the cells that constitute a sensory organ, i.e., neuron and associated support cells. In embryos that are mutant for the achaete-scute complex or daughterless, in which most or all of the PNS is missing, no BrdU-labeled cells were found in the appropriate regions, suggesting that these PNS precursors either do not form or fail to replicate. Thus, the BrdU technique allows determination as to whether a mutation affects the PNS precursors or terminal differentiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Bodmer
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco 94143
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50
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Blochlinger K, Bodmer R, Jack J, Jan LY, Jan YN. Primary structure and expression of a product from cut, a locus involved in specifying sensory organ identity in Drosophila. Nature 1988; 333:629-35. [PMID: 2897632 DOI: 10.1038/333629a0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 213] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
In the absence of cut gene activity in Drosophila, external sensory organs are transformed into chordotonal organs. Here we show that the cut locus encodes a large protein containing a homoeodomain and is expressed in nuclei of cells in external sensory organs but not in cells within chordotonal organs.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Blochlinger
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco 94143
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