Gene expression during imaginal disc regeneration detected using enhancer-sensitive P-elements

Tracking Follicle Cell Development

Somatic follicle cells are critical support cells for Drosophila oogenesis, as they provide signals and molecules needed to produce a mature egg. Throughout this process, the follicle cells differentiate into multiple subpopulations and transition between three different cell cycle programs to support nurse cell and oocyte development. The follicle cells are mitotic in early egg chamber development, as they cover the germline cyst. In mid-oogenesis, follicle cells switch from mitosis to endocycling, increasing their ploidy from 2C to 16C. Finally, in late oogenesis, cells transition from endocycling to gene amplification, increasing the copy number of a small subset of genes, including the genes encoding proteins required for egg maturation. In order to explore the genetic regulation of these cell cycle switches and follicle cell development and specification, clonal analysis and the GAL4/UAS system are used frequently to reduce or increase expression of genes of interest. These genetic approaches combined with immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization are powerful tools for characterizing the mechanisms regulating follicle cell development and the mitosis/endocycle and endocycle/gene amplification transitions. This chapter describes the genetic tools available to manipulate gene expression in follicle cells, as well as the methods and reagents that can be utilized to explore gene expression throughout follicle cell development.

Model systems for regeneration: Drosophila

Drosophila melanogaster has historically been a workhorse model organism for studying developmental biology. In addition, Drosophila is an excellent model for studying how damaged tissues and organs can regenerate. Recently, new precision approaches that enable both highly targeted injury and genetic manipulation have accelerated progress in this field. Here, we highlight these techniques and review examples of recently discovered mechanisms that regulate regeneration in Drosophila larval and adult tissues. We also discuss how, by applying these powerful approaches, studies of Drosophila can continue to guide the future of regeneration research.

The selector genes midline and H15 control ventral leg pattern by both inhibiting Dpp signaling and specifying ventral fate

mid and H15 encode Tbx20 transcription factors that specify ventral pattern in the Drosophila leg. We find that there are at least two pathways for mid and H15 specification of ventral fate. In the first pathway, mid and H15 negatively regulate Dpp, the dorsal signal in leg development. mid and H15 block the dorsalizing effects of Dpp signaling in the ventral leg. In loss- and gain-of-function experiments in imaginal discs, we show that mid and H15 block the accumulation of phospho-Mad, the activated form of the Drosophila pSmad1/5 homolog. In a second pathway, we find mid and H15 must also directly promote ventral fate because simultaneously blocking Dpp signaling in mid H15 mutants does not rescue the ventral to dorsal transformation in most ventral leg structures. We show that mid and H15 act as transcriptional repressors in ventral leg development. The two genes repress the Dpp target gene Dad, the laterally expressed gene Upd, and the mid VLE enhancer. This repression depends on the eh1 domain, a binding site for the Groucho co-repressor, and is likely direct because Mid localizes to target gene enhancers in PCR-ChIP assays. A mid allele mutant for the repressing domain (eh1), mid^eh1, was found to be compromised in gain-of-function assays and in rescue of mid H15 loss-of-function. We propose that mid and H15 specify ventral fate through inhibition of Dpp signaling and through coordinating the repression of genes in the ventral leg.

Cap-n-Collar Promotes Tissue Regeneration by Regulating ROS and JNK Signaling in the Drosophila melanogaster Wing Imaginal Disc

Regeneration is a complex process that requires an organism to recognize and repair tissue damage, as well as grow and pattern new tissue. Here, we describe a genetic screen to identify novel regulators of regeneration. We ablated the Drosophila melanogaster larval wing primordium by inducing apoptosis in a spatially and temporally controlled manner and allowed the tissue to regenerate and repattern. To identify genes that regulate regeneration, we carried out a dominant-modifier screen by assessing the amount and quality of regeneration in adult wings heterozygous for isogenic deficiencies. We have identified 31 regions on the right arm of the third chromosome that modify the regenerative response. Interestingly, we observed several distinct phenotypes: mutants that regenerated poorly, mutants that regenerated faster or better than wild-type, and mutants that regenerated imperfectly and had patterning defects. We mapped one deficiency region to cap-n-collar (cnc), the Drosophila Nrf2 ortholog, which is required for regeneration. Cnc regulates reactive oxygen species levels in the regenerating epithelium, and affects c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK) signaling, growth, debris localization, and pupariation timing. Here, we present the results of our screen and propose a model wherein Cnc regulates regeneration by maintaining an optimal level of reactive oxygen species to promote JNK signaling.

Drosophila Imaginal Discs as a Model of Epithelial Wound Repair and Regeneration

Significance: The Drosophila larval imaginal discs, which form the adult fly during metamorphosis, are an established model system for the study of epithelial tissue damage. The disc proper is a simple columnar epithelium, but it contains complex patterning and cell-fate specification, and is genetically tractable. These features enable unbiased genetic screens to identify genes involved in all aspects of the wound response, from sensing damage to wound closure, initiation of regeneration, and re-establishment of proper cell fates. Identification of the genes that facilitate epithelial wound closure and regeneration will enable development of more sophisticated wound treatments for clinical use. Recent Advances: Imaginal disc epithelia can be damaged in many different ways, including fragmentation, induction of cell death, and irradiation. Recent work has demonstrated that the tissue's response to damage varies depending on how the wound was induced. Here, we summarize the different responses activated in these epithelial tissues after the different types of damage. Critical Issues: These studies highlight that not all wounds elicit the same response from the surrounding tissue. A complete understanding of the various wound-healing mechanisms in Drosophila will be a first step in understanding how to manage damaged human tissues and optimize healing in different clinical contexts. Future Directions: Further work is necessary to understand the similarities and differences among an epithelial tissue's responses to different insults. Ongoing studies will identify the genes and pathways employed by injured imaginal discs. Thus, work in this genetically tractable system complements work in more conventional wound-healing models.

Regeneration and transdetermination in Drosophila imaginal discs

The study of regeneration in Drosophila imaginal discs provides an opportunity to use powerful genetic tools to address fundamental problems pertaining to tissue regeneration and cell plasticity. We present a historical overview of the field and describe how the application of modern methods has made the study of disc regeneration amenable to genetic analysis. Discs respond to tissue damage in several ways: (a) Removal of part of the disc elicits localized cell proliferation and regeneration of the missing tissue. (b) Damage at specific locations in the disc can cause cells to generate disc-inappropriate structures (e.g., wing instead of leg), a phenomenon known as transdetermination. (c) Diffuse damage to imaginal discs, results in compensatory proliferation of surviving cells. Candidate-gene approaches have implicated the JNK, Wingless, and Hippo pathways in regeneration. Recently developed systems will enable extensive genetic screens that could provide new insights into tissue regeneration, transdetermination and compensatory proliferation.

Imaginal discs: Renaissance of a model for regenerative biology

Many animals display a capacity to regenerate tissues or even a complete body. One of the main goals of regenerative biology is to identify the genes and genetic networks necessary for this process. Drosophila offers an ideal model system for such studies. The wide range of genetic and genomic approaches available for use in flies has helped in initiating the deciphering of the mechanisms underlying regeneration, and the results may be applicable to other organisms, including mammals. Moreover, most models of regeneration require experimental manipulation, whereas in Drosophila discrete domains can be ablated by genetically induced methods. Here, we present a summary of current research into imaginal disc regeneration and discuss the power of this tissue as a tool for understanding the genetics of regeneration.

Cell death-induced regeneration in wing imaginal discs requires JNK signalling

Regeneration and tissue repair allow damaged or lost body parts to be replaced. After injury or fragmentation of Drosophila imaginal discs, regeneration leads to the development of normal adult structures. This process is likely to involve a combination of cell rearrangement and compensatory proliferation. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying these processes are poorly understood. We have established a system to allow temporally restricted induction of cell death in situ. Using Gal4/Gal80 and UAS-rpr constructs, targeted ablation of a region of the disc could be performed and regeneration monitored without the requirement for microsurgical manipulation. Using a ptc-Gal4 construct to drive rpr expression in the wing disc resulted in a stripe of dead cells in the anterior compartment flanking the anteroposterior boundary, whereas a sal-Gal4 driver generated a dead domain that includes both anterior and posterior cells. Under these conditions, regenerated tissues were derived from the damaged compartment, suggesting that compartment restrictions are preserved during regeneration. Our studies reveal that during regeneration the live cells bordering the domain in which cell death was induced first display cytoskeletal reorganisation and apical-to-basal closure of the epithelium. Then, proliferation begins locally in the vicinity of the wound and later more extensively in the affected compartment. Finally, we show that regeneration of genetically ablated tissue requires JNK activity. During cell death-induced regeneration, the JNK pathway is activated at the leading edges of healing tissue and not in the apoptotic cells, and is required for the regulation of healing and regenerative growth.

Regenerative growth in Drosophila imaginal discs is regulated by Wingless and Myc

The study of regeneration would be aided greatly by systems that support large-scale genetic screens. Here we describe a nonsurgical method for inducing tissue damage and regeneration in Drosophila larvae by inducing apoptosis in the wing imaginal disc in a spatially and temporally regulated manner. Tissue damage results in localized regenerative proliferation characterized by altered expression of patterning genes and growth regulators as well as a temporary loss of markers of cell fate commitment. Wingless and Myc are induced by tissue damage and are important for regenerative growth. Furthermore, ectopic Myc enhances regeneration when other growth drivers tested do not. As the animal matures, the ability to regenerate is lost and cannot be restored by activation of Wingless or Myc. This system is conducive to forward genetic screens, enabling an unbiased search for genes that regulate both the extent of and the capacity for regeneration.

Compensatory proliferation in Drosophila imaginal discs requires Dronc-dependent p53 activity

BACKGROUND

The p53 transcription factor directs a transcriptional program that determines whether a cell lives or dies after DNA damage. Animal survival after extensive cellular damage often requires that lost tissue be replaced through compensatory growth or regeneration. In Drosophila, damaged imaginal disc cells can induce the proliferation of neighboring viable cells, but how this is controlled is not clear. Here we provide evidence that Drosophila p53 (dp53) has a previously unidentified role in coordinating the compensatory growth response to tissue damage.

RESULTS

We find that dp53, the sole p53 ortholog in Drosophila, is required for each component of the response to cellular damage, including two separate cell-cycle arrests, changes in patterning gene expression, cell proliferation, and growth. We demonstrate that these processes are regulated by dp53 in a manner that is independent of DNA-damage sensing but that requires the initiator caspase Dronc. Our results indicate that once induced, dp53 amplifies and sustains the response through a positive feedback loop with Dronc and the apoptosis-inducing factors Hid and Reaper.

CONCLUSIONS

How cell death and cell proliferation are coordinated during development and after stress is a fundamental question that is critical for an understanding of growth regulation. Our data suggest that dp53 may carry out an ancestral function that promotes animal survival through the coordination of responses leading to compensatory growth after tissue damage.

Delta and Hairy establish a periodic prepattern that positions sensory bristles in Drosophila legs

In vertebrates and invertebrates, spatially defined proneural gene expression is an early and essential event in neuronal patterning. In this study, we investigate the mechanisms involved in establishing proneural gene expression in the primordia of a group of small mechanosensory bristles (microchaetae), which on the legs of the Drosophila adult are arranged in a series of longitudinal rows along the leg circumference. In prepupal legs, the proneural gene achaete (ac) is expressed in longitudinal stripes, which comprise the leg microchaete primordia. We have previously shown that periodic ac expression is partially established by the prepattern gene, hairy, which represses ac expression in four of eight interstripe domains. Here, we identify Delta (Dl), which encodes a Notch (N) ligand, as a second leg prepattern gene. We show that Hairy and Dl function concertedly and nonredundantly to define periodic ac expression. We also explore the regulation of periodic hairy expression. In prior studies, we have found that expression of two hairy stripes along the D/V axis is induced in response to the Hedgehog (Hh), Decapentaplegic (Dpp) and Wingless (Wg) morphogens. Here, we show that expression of two other hairy stripes along the orthogonal A/P axis is established through a distinct mechanism which involves uniform activation combined with repressive influences from Dpp and Wg. Our findings allow us to formulate a general model for generation of periodic pattern in the adult leg. This process involves broad and late activation of ac expression combined with refinement in response to a prepattern of repression, established by Hairy and Dl, which unfolds progressively during larval and early prepupal stages.

Functions of the segment polarity genes midline and H15 in Drosophila melanogaster neurogenesis

The Drosophila melanogaster ventral nerve cord derives from neural progenitor cells called neuroblasts. Individual neuroblasts have unique gene expression profiles and give rise to distinct clones of neurons and glia. The specification of neuroblast identity provides a cell intrinsic mechanism which ultimately results in the generation of progeny which are different from each other. Segment polarity genes have a dual function in early neurogenesis: within distinct regions of the neuroectoderm, they are required both for neuroblast formation and for the specification of neuroblast identity. Previous studies of segment polarity gene function largely focused on neuroblasts that arise within the posterior part of the segment. Here we show that the segment polarity gene midline is required for neuroblast formation in the anterior-most part of the segment. Moreover, midline contributes to the specification of anterior neuroblast identity by negatively regulating the expression of Wingless and positively regulating the expression of Mirror. In the posterior-most part of the segment, midline and its paralog, H15, have partially redundant functions in the regulation of the NB marker Eagle. Hence, the segment polarity genes midline and H15 play an important role in the development of the ventral nerve cord in the anterior- and posterior-most part of the segment.

The Drosophila melanogaster T-box genes midline and H15 are conserved regulators of heart development

The Drosophila melanogaster genes midline and H15 encode predicted T-box transcription factors homologous to vertebrate Tbx20 genes. All identified vertebrate Tbx20 genes are expressed in the embryonic heart and we find that both midline and H15 are expressed in the cardioblasts of the dorsal vessel, the insect organ equivalent to the vertebrate heart. The midline mRNA is first detected in dorsal mesoderm at embryonic stage 12 in the two progenitors per hemisegment that will divide to give rise to all six cardioblasts. Expression of H15 mRNA in the dorsal mesoderm is detected first in four to six cells per hemisegment at stage 13. The expression of midline and H15 in the dorsal vessel is dependent on Wingless signaling and the transcription factors tinman and pannier. We find that the selection of two midline-expressing cells from a pool of competent progenitors is dependent on Notch signaling. Embryos deleted for both midline and H15 have defects in the alignment of the cardioblasts and associated pericardial cells. Embryos null for midline have weaker and less penetrant phenotypes while embryos deficient for H15 have morphologically normal hearts, suggesting that the two genes are partially redundant in heart development. Despite the dorsal vessel defects, embryos mutant for both midline and H15 have normal numbers of cardioblasts, suggesting that cardiac cell fate specification is not disrupted. However, ectopic expression of midline in the dorsal mesoderm can lead to dramatic increases in the expression of cardiac markers, suggesting that midline and H15 participate in cardiac fate specification and may normally act redundantly with other cardiogenic factors. Conservation of Tbx20 expression and function in cardiac development lends further support for a common ancestral origin of the insect dorsal vessel and the vertebrate heart.

Evolution of dorsal-ventral axis formation in arthropod appendages: H15 and optomotor-blind/bifid-type T-box genes in the millipede Glomeris marginata (Myriapoda: Diplopoda)

In Drosophila, the T-box genes optomotor-blind (omb) and H15 have been implicated in specifying the development of the dorso-ventral (DV) axis of the appendages. Results from the spider Cupiennius salei have suggested that this DV patterning system may be at least partially conserved. Here we extend the study of the DV patterning genes omb and H15 to a representative of the Myriapoda in order to add to the existing comparative data set and to gain further insight into the evolution of the DV patterning system in arthropod appendages. The omb gene of the millipede Glomeris marginata is expressed on the dorsal side of all appendages including trunk legs, maxillae, mandibles, and antennae. This is similar to what is known from Drosophila and Cupiennius and suggests that the role of omb in instructing dorsal fates is conserved in arthropods. Interestingly, the lobe-shaped portions of the mouthparts do not express omb, indicating that these are ventral components and thus may be homologous to the endites present in the corresponding appendages in insects. Concerning the H15 gene we were able to identify two paralogous genes in Glomeris. Both genes are expressed in the sensory organs of the maxilla and antenna, but only Gm-H15-1 is expressed along the ventral side of the trunk legs. The expression is more extensive than in Cupiennius, but less so than in Drosophila. In addition, no ventral expression domain is present in the maxilla, mandible, and antenna. Because of this, the role of H15 in the determination of ventral fate remains unclear.

The role of the T-box gene optomotor-blind in patterning the Drosophila wing

The development of the Drosophila wing is governed by the action of two morphogens encoded by the genes decapentaplegic (dpp; a member of the BMP gene family) and wingless (wg; a member of the WNT gene family), which promote cell proliferation and pattern the wing. Along the anterior/posterior (A/P) axis, the precise expression of decapentaplegic and its receptors is required for the transcriptional regulation of specific target genes. In the present work, we analyze the function of the T-box gene optomotor-blind (omb), a decapentaplegic target gene. The wings of optomotor-blind mutants have two apparently opposite phenotypes: the central wing is severely reduced and shows massive cell death, mainly in the distal-most wing, and the lateral wing shows extra cell proliferation. Here, we present genetic evidence that optomotor-blind is required to establish the graded expression of the decapentaplegic type I receptor encoded by the gene thick veins (tkv) to repress the expression of the gene master of thick veins and also to activate the expression of spalt (sal) and vestigial (vg), two decapentaplegic target genes. optomotor-blind plays a role in wing development downstream of decapentaplegic by controlling the expression of its receptor thick veins and by mediating the activation of target genes required for the correct development of the wing. The lack of optomotor-blind produces massive cell death in its expression domain, which leads to the mis-activation of the Notch pathway and the overproliferation of lateral wing cells.

T-box genes in development: from hydra to humans

The T-box gene family was uncovered less than a decade ago but has been recognized as important in controlling many and varied aspects of development in metazoans from hydra to humans. Extensive screening and database searching has revealed several subfamilies of genes with orthologs in species as diverse as Caenorhabditis elegans and humans. The defining feature of the family is a conserved sequence coding for a DNA-binding motif known as the T-box, named after the first-discovered T-box gene, T or Brachyury. Although several T-box proteins have been shown to function as transcriptional regulators, to date only a handful of downstream target genes have been discovered. Similarly, little is known about regulation of the T-box genes themselves. Although not limited to the embryo, expression of T-box genes is characteristically seen in dynamic and highly specific patterns in many tissues and organs during embryogenesis and organogenesis. The essential role of several T-box genes has been demonstrated by the developmental phenotypes of mutant animals.

Apical, lateral, and basal polarization cues contribute to the development of the follicular epithelium during Drosophila oogenesis

Analysis of the mechanisms that control epithelial polarization has revealed that cues for polarization are mediated by transmembrane proteins that operate at the apical, lateral, or basal surface of epithelial cells. Whereas for any given epithelial cell type only one or two polarization systems have been identified to date, we report here that the follicular epithelium in Drosophila ovaries uses three different polarization mechanisms, each operating at one of the three main epithelial surface domains. The follicular epithelium arises through a mesenchymal-epithelial transition. Contact with the basement membrane provides an initial polarization cue that leads to the formation of a basal membrane domain. Moreover, we use mosaic analysis to show that Crumbs (Crb) is required for the formation and maintenance of the follicular epithelium. Crb localizes to the apical membrane of follicle cells that is in contact with germline cells. Contact to the germline is required for the accumulation of Crb in follicle cells. Discs Lost (Dlt), a cytoplasmic PDZ domain protein that was shown to interact with the cytoplasmic tail of Crb, overlaps precisely in its distribution with Crb, as shown by immunoelectron microscopy. Crb localization depends on Dlt, whereas Dlt uses Crb-dependent and -independent mechanisms for apical targeting. Finally, we show that the cadherin-catenin complex is not required for the formation of the follicular epithelium, but only for its maintenance. Loss of cadherin-based adherens junctions caused by armadillo (beta-catenin) mutations results in a disruption of the lateral spectrin and actin cytoskeleton. Also Crb and the apical spectrin cytoskeleton are lost from armadillo mutant follicle cells. Together with previous data showing that Crb is required for the formation of a zonula adherens, these findings indicate a mutual dependency of apical and lateral polarization mechanisms.

Drosophila null slimb clones transiently deregulate Hedgehog-independent transcription of wingless in all limb discs, and induce decapentaplegic transcription linked to imaginal disc regeneration

Drosophila Slimb (Slmb) is a F-box/WD40 protein which potentially participates in the ubiquitin proteolysis machinery. During development, Slmb is required in limb discs to repress Hedgehog (Hh) target genes, i.e. wingless (wg) and decapentaplegic (dpp), as well as the Wg signal transduction pathway. These repression functions have been proposed from studies using weak slmb alleles. Interestingly, experiments with strong slmb alleles have revealed additional mechanisms in which slmb is required, such as leg dorsal-ventral restriction. We have isolated new alleles of the slmb gene in a screen for new negative regulators of dpp: several amorphs (characterized by genetic and molecular criteria) and a cold-sensitive hypomorph. By performing somatic clone experiments with these new amorphic slmb alleles, we have determined that regulation of Dpp and Wg morphogens by Slmb could be different from what has already been published. We show here that in leg discs, lack of slmb function derepresses the transcription of wg independently of Hh signaling. We present evidence that ectopic legs resulting from slmb(-) clone induction only come from wg misexpression in the normal dpp domain, as ectopic proximo-distal axis are induced dorsally, and adult ectopic legs are often perfect with respect to antero-posterior polarity. In wing discs, transcription of wg, which is normally independent of Hh signaling, is also derepressed in the absence of slmb function. We also describe, in discs bearing amorphic slmb clones and in discs of two other slmb(-) contexts, a novel pattern of dpp expression consisting of an enlargement of the normal dpp domain. Strong evidence indicates that this dpp modification can be linked to imaginal disc regeneration following slmb(-) cell elimination. We have investigated the fate of slmb(-) clones, which disappear before adulthood, and found that two mechanisms of cell elimination can account for imaginal cell regeneration: an early apoptosis and a mechanism of sorting-out which excludes all slmb(-) clones from all imaginal discs. This result suggests that Slmb is likely to be involved, in addition to its repression role on Dpp and Wg, in some other essential cellular mechanism, as in the absence of Slmb, cell affinities are dramatically modified regardless of the deregulated morphogen and of the type of imaginal disc.

A conserved role for H15-related T-box transcription factors in zebrafish and Drosophila heart formation

T-box transcription factors are critical regulators of early embryonic development. We have characterized a novel zebrafish T-box transcription factor, hrT (H15-related T box) that is a close relative of Drosophila H15 and a recently identified human gene. We show that Drosophila H15 and zebrafish hrT are both expressed early during heart formation, in strong support of previous work postulating that vertebrate and arthropod hearts are homologous structures with conserved regulatory mechanisms. The timing and regulation of zebrafish hrT expression in anterior lateral plate mesoderm suggest a very early role for hrT in the differentiation of the cardiac precursors. hrT is coexpressed with gata4 and nkx2.5 not only in anterior lateral plate mesoderm but also in noncardiac mesoderm adjacent to the tail bud, suggesting that a conserved regulatory pathway links expression of these three genes in cardiac and noncardiac tissues. Finally, we analyzed hrT expression in pandora mutant embryos, since these have defects in many of the tissues that express hrT, including the heart. hrT expression is much reduced in the early heart fields of pandora mutants, whereas it is ectopically expressed subsequently. Using hrT expression as a marker, we describe a midline patterning defect in pandora affecting the anterior hindbrain and associated midline mesendodermal derivatives. We discuss the possibility that the cardiac ventricular defect previously described in pandora and the midline defects described here are related.

Regeneration in insects

@9cIntroduction@21T issues exhibit an impressive ability to respond to a myriad of insults by repairing and regenerating complex structures. The elegant and orderly process of regeneration provides clues to the mechanisms of pattern formation but also offers the hope that the process might one day be manipulated to replace damaged body parts. To manipulate the process, it will be necessary to understand the genetic basis of the process. In the case of the insect leg, we are coming close to such a level of understanding and many of the lessons learned are relevant to vertebrate systems. A dynamic web of gene regulatory networks appears to create a robust self-organizing system that is at once extremely intricate but also perhaps simple in its reliance on a few key signaling pathways and a few simple processes, e.g. autoactivation and lateral inhibition. Here we will summarize what has been learned about the networks of gene regulation present in the Drosophila leg discs and then we will explore how the regenerative responses to different insults can be understood as predictable responses to these networks. Each of the regulatory networks could themselves serve as the subject of a detailed review and that is beyond the scope of this discussion. Here we will focus on the interplay between the regulatory networks in patterning the tissue.

[Dorsal closure in Drosophila. A genetic model for wound healing?]

Dorsal closure (DC) is a morphogenetic movement that establishes the dorsal ectoderm of the drosophila embryo. During this process, the two lateral epithelia stretch toward the dorsal midline, the suture line of the two leading edges. Cell migration during DC relies both on cell shape change controlled by the activity of the JNK pathway in the leading edge cells and modification of cell adhesiveness, probably dependent upon activation of the Dpp (TGF-beta) pathway. Coupling of the JNK and TGF-beta pathways is essential. The sequence of the cellular and molecular events of DC highlights interesting common features with wound healing in vertebrates. Like DC, wound healing relies on the migration of epithelia bordered by leading edges controlling the direction and speed of the movement. This review summarizes recent data concerning the control of epithelial morphogenesis during DC and the bases of wound healing. The molecular and cellular events that underlie these two analogous migratory processes are detailed, discussed and compared. We suggest that DC is a good genetic model for wound healing studying.

Needs and targets for the multi sex combs gene product in Drosophila melanogaster

We have analyzed the requirements for the multi sex combs (mxc) gene during development to gain further insight into the mechanisms and developmental processes that depend on the important trans-regulators forming the Polycomb group (PcG) in Drosophila melanogaster. mxc is allelic with the tumor suppressor locus lethal (1) malignant blood neoplasm (l(1)mbn). We show that the mxc product is dramatically needed in most tissues because its loss leads to cell death after a few divisions. mxc has also a strong maternal effect. We find that hypomorphic mxc mutations enhance other PcG gene mutant phenotypes and cause ectopic expression of homeotic genes, confirming that PcG products are cooperatively involved in repression of selector genes outside their normal expression domains. We also demonstrate that the mxc product is needed for imaginal head specification, through regulation of the ANT-C gene Deformed. Our analysis reveals that mxc is involved in the maternal control of early zygotic gap gene expression previously reported for some PcG genes and suggests that the mechanism of this early PcG function could be different from the PcG-mediated regulation of homeotic selector genes later in development. We discuss these data in view of the numerous functions of PcG genes during development.

The T-box gene family

A novel family of transcription factors that appears to play a critical role in the development of all animal species was recently uncovered on the basis of homology of the DNA binding domain of the Brachyury, or T locus, gene product. Phylogenetic studies have shown the ancient origin of this gene family, which has been named the T-box family, prior to the divergence of metazoa from a common ancestral type. T-box genes have now been identified in the genomes of C. elegans, Drosophila, sea urchin, ascidian, amphioxus, Xenopus, chick, zebrafish, mouse, and human and will probably be found in the genomes of all animals. Although functional analyses of T-box family members have just begun, the results show a wide range of roles in developmental processes that extend over time from the unfertilized egg through organogenesis. Only a few mutations in T-box genes are known, but all have drastic effects on development, including a targeted mutation in mice causing an embryonic lethal phenotype, and two human T-box gene mutations that results in developmental syndromes. This review presents a current overview of progress made in the analysis of T-box genes and their products in a variety of model systems.

Lethal P-lacZ insertion lines expressed during pattern respecification in the imaginal discs of Drosophila

The imaginal discs of Drosophila are a useful experimental system in which we can study the origin and genetic determination of spatial patterns in development. This involves the separation of the disc-cell population into distinct lineage compartments, based on clonally transmitted expression states of a number of known selector genes. However, these commitments can be abrogated and the compartment boundaries redeployed, when repatterning occurs in cultured disc fragments. This has so far only been explained using the idea of positional information. The genetic basis of this property of the imaginal disc system and its relationship to compartments have not been identified. Here we have screened over 470 recessive lethal P-lacZ enhancer-trap insertions from the Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project for expression after cell death, which initiates pattern respecification in the imaginal discs. The positive lines obtained identify essential genes that may be important for pattern formation. Most show patterned imaginal disc expression, and many have maternal or zygotic effects on embryonic development. One is an allele of schnurri, a gene that encodes a component of the decapentaplegic (dpp) signal transduction pathway used for positional signalling in the embryo and in imaginal discs.

The T-box gene family

A novel family of transcription factors that appears to play a critical role in the development of all animal species was recently uncovered on the basis of homology of the DNA binding domain of the Brachyury, or T locus, gene product. Phylogenetic studies have shown the ancient origin of this gene family, which has been named the T-box family, prior to the divergence of metazoa from a common ancestral type. T-box genes have now been identified in the genomes of C. elegans, Drosophila, sea urchin, ascidian, amphioxus, Xenopus, chick, zebrafish, mouse, and human and will probably be found in the genomes of all animals. Although functional analyses of T-box family members have just begun, the results show a wide range of roles in developmental processes that extend over time from the unfertilized egg through organogenesis. Only a few mutations in T-box genes are known, but all have drastic effects on development, including a targeted mutation in mice causing an embryonic lethal phenotype, and two human T-box gene mutations that results in developmental syndromes. This review presents a current overview of progress made in the analysis of T-box genes and their products in a variety of model systems.

Smoothened-mediated Hedgehog signalling is required for the maintenance of the anterior-posterior lineage restriction in the developing wing of Drosophila

It is thought that the posterior expression of the ‘selector’ genes engrailed and invected control the subdivision of the growing wing imaginal disc of Drosophila into anterior and posterior lineage compartments. At present, the cellular mechanisms by which separate lineage compartments are maintained are not known. Most models have assumed that the presence or absence of selector gene expression autonomously drives the expression of compartment-specific adhesion or recognition molecules that inhibit intermixing between compartments. However, our present understanding of Hedgehog signalling from posterior to anterior cells raises some interesting alternative models based on a cell's response to signalling. We show here that anterior cells that lack smoothened, and thus the ability to receive the Hedgehog signal, no longer obey a lineage restriction in the normal position of the anterior-posterior boundary. Rather these clones extend into anatomically posterior territory, without any changes in engrailed/invected gene expression. We have also examined clones lacking both en and inv; these too show complex behaviors near the normal site of the compartment boundary, and do not always cross entirely into anatomically anterior territory. Our results suggest that compartmentalization is a complex process involving intercompartmental signalling; models based on changes in affinity or growth will be discussed.

Regeneration of Sarcophaga imaginal discs in vitro: implication of 20-hydroxyecdysone

When the 3/4 sectors of leg imaginal discs of Sarcophaga were cultured in vitro in the presence of 2.5 x 10(-8) M 20-hydroxyecdysone, wound healing and restoration of their morphology occurred. This concentration of ecdysone was critical for wound healing and was 40 times lower than that necessary for inducing differentiation of imaginal discs in vitro. Lost positional values revealed by expression of the wingless gene were found to show partial recovery under these conditions. These results suggest that a low titer of ecdysone is essential for the regeneration of imaginal discs.

The segment polarity gene porcupine encodes a putative multitransmembrane protein involved in Wingless processing

The Wnt protein Wingless (Wg) functions as a signal in patterning of both the Drosophila embryo and imaginal discs. Lack of porcupine (porc) activity is associated with mutant phenotypes similar to those of wg mutations. In porc mutant embryos, Wg protein is confined to the cells that produce it, suggesting that Porc plays a role in processing or secretion of Wg. porc encodes a novel transmembrane protein that appears to be concentrated at the endoplasmic reticulum. We present both genetic and in vitro evidence demonstrating that porc is involved specifically in the processing of Wg. We identified a human sequence related to Porc suggesting the existence of a family of proteins involved in processing of Wnts.

Antagonistic interactions between wingless and decapentaplegic responsible for dorsal-ventral pattern in the Drosophila Leg

Subdivision of the limb primordia of Drosophila into anterior and posterior compartments triggers cell interactions that pattern the legs and wings. A comparable compartment-based mechanism is used to pattern the dorsal-ventral axis of the wing. Evidence is presented here for a mechanism based on cell interaction, rather than on compartment formation, that distinguishes dorsal from ventral in the leg. Mutual repression by Wingless and Decapentaplegic signaling systems generates a stable regulatory circuit by which each gene maintains its own expression in a spatially restricted domain. Compartment-independent patterning mechanisms may be used by other organisms during development.

Promoter specificity mediates the independent regulation of neighboring genes

Although enhancers can exert their influence over great distances, their effect is generally limited to a single gene. To discern the mechanism by which this constraint can he mediated, we have studied three neighboring Drosophila genes: decapentaplegic (dpp), SLY1 homologous (Slh) and out at first (oaf). Several dpp enhancers are positioned close to Slh and oaf, and yet these genes are unaffected by the dpp elements. However, when a transposon is located within the oaf gene, the dpp enhancers activate the more distant transposon promoters while still ignoring the closer Slh and oaf start sites. To test whether this promoter specificity accounts for the regulatory autonomy normally found for the three genes, we used in vivo gene targeting to replace the oaf promoter with a dpp-compatible one in an otherwise normal chromosome. Strikingly, this chimeric gene is now activated by the dpp enhancers. Thus, the properties of the promoters themselves are sufficient to mediate the autonomous regulation of genes in this region.

Analysis of an enhancer trap expressed in regenerating Drosophila imaginal discs

In Drosophila, imaginal discs are the undifferentiated larval precursors of the pattern of epidermal and sensory neural cells in each adult segment. Although cell fates are already specified by late third instar, disc fragments can either regenerate or duplicate after growth in culture. The outcome depends on signaling between cells across the healed wound and involves a redeployment of the expression patterns of selector genes and other disc pattern genes. We recently used the enhancer-trap method to screen for such genes that are expressed ectopically at the wound-heal site in imaginal discs undergoing regeneration. Here we report the cloning by plasmid rescue of transcribed sequences adjacent to one such enhancer-trap insertion. Using Northern analysis and in situ hybridization we show that one transcript is expressed in the embryo and in imaginal discs in a pattern similar to that of the enhancer trap. We also, by imprecise excision of the enhancer-trap insertion, generated a series of flanking deletions that were mapped using Southern analysis and complementation.

Compartments and appendage development in Drosophila

The appendages of Drosophila develop from the imaginal discs. During the extensive growth of these discs cell lineages are for the most part unfixed, suggesting a strong role for cell-cell interactions in controlling the final pattern of differentiation. However, during early and middle stages of development, discs are subdivided by strict lineage restrictions into a small number of spatially distinct compartments. These compartments appear to be maintained by stably inheriting states of gene expression; the compartment-specific expression of two such 'selector'-like genes, engrailed and apterous, are critical for anterior-posterior and dorso-ventral compartmentalization, respectively. Recent work suggests that one purpose of compartmentalization is to establish regions of specialized cells near compartment boundaries via intercompartmental induction, using molecules like the hedgehog protein. Thus, compartments can act as organizing centers for patterning within compartments. Evidence for non-compartmental patterning mechanisms will also be discussed.

Dual functions of wingless in the Drosophila leg imaginal disc

The Drosophila gene wingless is a member of the Wnt gene family, a group of genes that are involved in embryonic development and the regulation of cell proliferation. wingless encodes a secreted glycoprotein that plays a role in embryogenesis as well as in the development of adult structures. In the primordia of the adult limbs, the imaginal discs, wingless is expressed in an anterior ventral sector and is required for specification of ventral fate. Ectopic expression of low levels of Wingless in the leg discs leads to partial ventralization and outgrowths of the proximodistal axis. Wingless has thus been proposed to specify ventral fate in a concentration dependent manner (i.e., as a morphogen) and to organize the proximodistal axis. We have extended the analysis of Wingless function in the leg primordium through targeted ectopic expression. We find that Wingless has two functions in the leg disc. In the specification of ventral fate, our data indicate that Wingless does not function as a morphogen but instead appears to collaborate with other factors. In addition to its role in ventral fate specification, Wingless inhibits the commitment of dorsal cells toward a determined state and influences the regulation of proliferation. We propose a model in which Wingless achieves separate functions via spatially regulated mechanisms and discuss the significance of these functions during axial patterning and organization.

Positional signaling by hedgehog in Drosophila imaginal disc development

We describe a dominant gain-of-function allele of the segment polarity gene hedgehog. This mutation causes ectopic expression of hedgehog mRNA in the anterior compartment of wing discs, leading to overgrowth of tissue in the anterior of the wing and partial duplication of distal wing structures. The posterior compartment of the wing is unaffected. Other imaginal derivatives are affected, resulting in duplications of legs and antennae and malformations of eyes. In mutant imaginal wing discs, expression of the decapentaplegic gene, which is implicated in the hedgehog signaling pathway, is also perturbed. The results suggest that hedgehog protein acts in the wing as a signal to instruct neighboring cells to adopt fates appropriate to the region of the wing just anterior to the compartmental boundary.

Interactions of decapentaplegic, wingless, and Distal-less in the Drosophila leg

The genes decapentaplegic, wingless, and Distalless appear to be instrumental in constructing the anatomy of the adult Drosophila leg. In order to investigate how these genes function and whether they act coordinately, we analyzed the leg phenotypes of the single mutants and their inter se double mutant compounds. In decapentaplegic the tarsi frequently exhibit dorsal deficiencies which suggest that the focus of gene action may reside dorsally rather than distally. In wingless the tarsal hinges are typically duplicated along with other dorsal structures, confirming that the hinges arise dorsally. The plane of symmetry in double-ventral duplications caused by decapentaplegic is virtually the same as the plane in double-dorsal duplications caused by wingless. It divides the fate map into two parts, each bisected by the dorsoventral axis. In the double mutant decapentaplegic wingless the most ventral and dorsal tarsal structures are missing, consistent with the notion that both gene products function as morphogens. In wingless Distal-less compounds the legs are severely truncated, indicating an important interaction between these genes. Distal-less and decapentaplegic manifest a relatively mild synergism when combined.

Hedgehog is a signaling protein with a key role in patterning Drosophila imaginal discs

The segment polarity genes hedgehog and engrailed are expressed in identical posterior-compartment-specific patterns in both Drosophila embryos and imaginal discs. We show here that the hedgehog protein is secreted, and it can cross embryo parasegment borders and the anterior-posterior compartment border of imaginal discs to neighboring cells that express neither engrailed nor hedgehog. In these cells, it is localized in discrete punctate structures that are sequestered within the polarized epithelium. Analysis of animals that have expressed hedgehog ectopically, or of a mutant that expresses hedgehog abnormally in the anterior compartment of the wing disc, indicates that hedgehog is involved in regulating patched. In the embryo, hedgehog regulation of patched apparently facilitates patched and wingless expression. In the discs, hedgehog regulation of patched and other genes in the anterior compartment helps to establish the proximodistal axis. We propose that the cell-cell communication mediated by hedgehog links the special properties of compartment borders with specification of the proximodistal axis in imaginal development.

The Drosophila segment polarity gene patched interacts with decapentaplegic in wing development

The decapentaplegic (dpp) gene of Drosophila melanogaster encodes a polypeptide of the transforming growth factor-beta family of secreted factors. It is required for the proper development of both embryonic and adult structures, and may act as a morphogen in the embryo. In wing imaginal discs, dpp is expressed and required in a stripe of cells near the anterior-posterior compartment boundary. Here we show that viable mutations in the segment polarity genes patched (ptc) and costal-2 (cos2) cause specific alterations in dpp expression within the anterior compartment of the wing imaginal disc. The interaction between ptc and dpp is particularly interesting; both genes are expressed with similar patterns at the anterior-posterior compartment boundary of the disc, and mis-expressed in a similar way in segment polarity mutant backgrounds like ptc and cos2. This mis-expression of dpp could be correlated with some of the features of the adult mutant phenotypes. We propose that ptc controls dpp expression in the imaginal discs, and that the restricted expression of dpp near the anterior-posterior compartment boundary is essential to maintain the wild-type morphology of the wing disc.