homothorax
During the evolution of insects from a millipede-like ancestor, the Hox genes are thought to have promoted the diversification of originally identical body structures. In Drosophila, antennae and legs are homologous structures that differ from each other as a result of the Hox gene Antennapedia (Antp), which promotes leg identities by repressing unknown antennal-determining genes. Four lines of evidence are presented that identify extradenticle (exd) and homothorax (hth) as antennal-determining genes. (1) Removing the function of eitherexd or hth (which is required for the nuclear localization of Exd protein), transforms the antenna into leg; such transformations occur without activation of Antp. (2) In most antennal cells, hth is expressed and Exd is nuclear, whereas both are restricted to proximal cells of the leg. (3) Antp is a repressor of hth. (4) Ectopic expression of Meis1, a murine hth homolog, can trigger antennal development elsewhere in the fly. Taken together, these data indicate that hth is an antennal selector gene, and that Antp promotes leg development by repressing hth, consequently preventing the nuclear transport of Exd (Casares, 1998).
Now that it is clear that hth determines antennal fate, it is worthwhile reconsidering the transformation to leg that is produced by hth or exd mutant cells in the antenna. This is the same phenotype seen with dominant Antp mutants, but the leg develops without the activity of Antp, Scr or Ubx. It follows that a leg can be generated without Hox activity, suggesting that the leg pathway is the ground state for ventral appendages. Thus the ground pattern for both larvae and adults is thoracic. Nor does Antp "select" for a specific leg pathway -- it simply represses hth in the leg primordia, thereby blocking antennal development and allowing the development of legs by default. This supports the idea that Antp promotes a ground (mesothoracic) pattern by repressing cephalic genes. This basal pattern is modified by Scr toward prothoracic (first leg) or by Ubx toward metathoracic (third leg) in their respective primordia. The downregulation of hth by Antp explains the phenotype of the dominant Antp mutants is due to homothorax repression. It also explains the ability of other Hox genes such as Ubx, abdominal-A, and Abdominal-B to induce the transformation of antennae into legs. These genes prevent the nuclear translocation of Exd (most likely through hth repression), so the antennal to leg transformations are probable nonspecific and caused by a property that is common to Antp and other Hox proteins (Morata, 1998 and Casares, 1998).
During embryogenesis, in contrast with leg development, Antp selects for a specific developmental pathway. Loss-of-function mutations and experiments to induce ectopic expression show that Antp determines the larval mesothoracic pattern -- a function that is clearly distinct from the other Hox genes. Why legs should be different is not clear, but different Hox genes have similar effects on appendages, possibly because these appendages have no hth activity, without which the Hox genes lack specificity (Morata, 1998 and references).
One possible mode of Hth/Exd action in suppressing eye development is by activating Wingless signaling,
which suppresses the initiation of the morphogenetic furrow (MF) in the eye disc or by suppressing Dpp signaling, which is required for MF initiation. Hth is present in the periphery of the eye disc,
weaker in the posterior margin, and stronger in the anterior half of the lateral margins. The distribution
is consistent with a role in suppressing dpp expression (expressed in the posterior and lateral margins
but not in the most anterior of the lateral margins) and activating wg expression (expressed in the
anterior half of the lateral margins). hth mutant clones located in the ventral region of the head can
cause ectopic eye formation, whereas clones in the dorsal region have no effect. This correlates with
the stronger expression and inhibitory effect of wg in the dorsal margin. hth-expressing clones can block the propagation and possibly the initiation of the MF.
These effects are consistent with either a loss of Dpp function or an enhanced Wg function.
Another possible mode of Hth/Exd action is by interacting negatively with a nuclear protein, which is
required for eye development. A similar mode of action has been proposed for proboscipedia (pb). Ubiquitous expression of a mutant Pb protein can suppress eye
development. The effect is independent of DNA binding by Pb and is attributable to
perturbed interaction with other proteins. The many nuclear factors required for eye development
(eyeless, dachshund, sine oculis, and eyes absent) are candidates
for this suppressive interaction with Exd or Hth (Pai, 1998).
The cap'n'collar
locus encodes three transcript and protein isoforms. The cncB
transcript is expressed in an embryonic pattern that includes
the labral, intercalary and mandibular segments, while cncA
and cncC are expressed ubiquitously. CncB
suppresses the segmental identity function of the Hox gene
Deformed (Dfd) in the mandibular segment of Drosophila
embryos. Evidence has been provided that the CncB-mediated
suppression of Dfd requires the Drosophila homolog of the
mammalian small Maf proteins, Maf-S, and that the
suppression occurs even in the presence of high amounts of
Dfd protein. Interestingly, the CncB/Maf-S suppressive
effect can be partially reversed by overexpression of
Homothorax (Hth), suggesting that Hth and Extradenticle
proteins antagonize the effects of CncB/Maf-S on Dfd
function in the mandibular segment (Veraksa, 2000).
Homothorax is shown to limit Dpp and Wg expression in the leg disc. Expression of the Dpp and Wg targets omb and H15 is restricted to those cells that do not express Hth. To determine if hth inhibits target gene activation by Dpp and Wg, hth was either removed from its endogenous domain or either a GFP-Hth fusion protein or the murine hth homolog MEIS-1B was misexpressed in the distal portion of the leg disc. Removing hth function results in the expansion of wg and dpp target gene expression. Dorsally situated hth- clones result in the expansion of omb expression, as marked by the omb-lacZ reporter gene. Does hth repress Distal-less and dachshund? Similar to removing exd function, when hth loss-of-function clones were examined, dac was found to be only partially derepressed, and derepression was found to be more likely to occur in clones that arise near endogenous dac expression. hth- clones have no effect on Dll expression, regardless of where they are situated. However, when clones of GFP-Hth- or MYC-MEIS-expressing cells are generated, both Dll and dac can be repressed. These results suggest that the expression of Dll and dac requires two conditions: (1) the absence of Hth and (2) sufficient activity in the Dpp and Wg pathways. High levels of Wg and Dpp signaling are shown to repress the nuclear localization of Exd by repressing hth transcription. The direct action of both the Wg- and Dpp-signaling pathways is required to specify cell fates along the P/D axis. High levels of Wg and Dpp signaling are required to activate Dll, a determinant of distal cell fates, and to repress expression of dac, a determinant of intermediate fates along the P/D axis. At intermediate levels of Wg and Dpp signaling, dac, but not Dll, is activated. The distal edge of hth expression coincides with the proximal edge of dac expression, suggesting that the threshold of Dpp and Wg signaling required to activate dac is similar to that required to repress hth. To test this idea, either Wg or Dpp signaling was elevated in the hth expression domain by generating clones of cells that express either a membrane-tethered form of Wg or an activated Dpp receptor, Thickveins QD (TKV QD). When Wg-expressing clones were generated dorsally, where endogenous Wg levels are low but where Dpp is present at high concentrations, there was a loss of Hth protein and a shift of Exd protein to the cytoplasm. This suggests that sufficient levels of both Wg and Dpp signaling are required to repress Hth (Abu-Shaar, 1998).
High levels of Wg and Dpp signaling are shown to affect Hth and Exd, at least in part, by repressing hth transcription. The ability of Wg and Dpp to repress hth appears to be indirectly mediated by Dll and dac. Like Dll, Dac appears to have the capacity to repress hth. The expression patterns of Hth and Dll were examined in leg discs that were entirely devoid of dac function. In these discs, the hth domain appears expanded distally and the Dll domain appears to be expanded proximally, consistent with the idea that dac normally represses both hth and Dll (Abu-Shaar, 1998).
The domains of gene expression for Hth, Dac and Dll, as well the regulatory interactions between them, suggest that the leg is functionally divided into two major domains. The first is a proximal domain, which expresses hth, has nuclear Exd and does not express at least some of the potential target genes of the Wg- or Dpp-signaling pathways. The second is a distal domain, which does not express hth, has Exd localized to the cytoplasm, and expresses the targets of Wg, Dpp and Wg+Dpp signaling. These data suggest that the proximal domain is what has been referred to as the coxopodite, or an extension of the body wall, and is distinct from the distal domain, the telopodite. hth expression and nuclear Exd in the coxopodite would restrict the ability of the Wg and Dpp signals to activate their target genes. This idea is consistent with the observation that these two domains differ with respect to their requirement for Hh signaling: unlike the telopodite, which exhibits severe truncations upon the reduction of hh function, the coxopodite is less severely affected. These two domains also appear to have different cell surface properties; cells from one domain prefer not to mix with cells from the other domain. For example, Dll mutant clones almost always relocalize to the hth-expressing domain and hth mutant clones frequently sort into distal regions of the leg disc. This phenomenon is not observed in the wing disc, where hth and Dll are restricted to outside and within the wing pouch, respectively: hth or Dll mutant clones are positioned randomly in this tissue. The mutant phenotypes displayed by the loss of coxopodite gene function are qualitatively different from those displayed by the loss of telopodite gene function. Removal of coxopodite genes such as exd results in either ënonsenseí or proximal to distal cell fate transformations, whereas removal of telopodite gene functions such as Dll and dac results in deletions of the appendage. In summary, the data support the idea that the proximal and distal regions of the leg have independent origins and differ from each other primarily due to the expression of hth, which limits or alters the ability of proximal cells to respond to Wg and Dpp signaling (Abu-Shaar, 1998 and references).
dac and Dll are shown to mediate Wg and Dpp mediated repression of hth. The demonstration that Wg and Dpp signaling repressed hth transcription and Exdís nuclear localization was surprising, because these two signaling molecules induce Exdís nuclear localization in the endoderm of the embryonic midgut. An investigation was carried out into the possibility that the repression of hth by Wg and Dpp is indirect and perhaps mediated by dac and Dll, which are not expressed in the midgut. TKV QD-expressing clones were generated and Hth, Dll and Dac were examined. Loss of function clones of Dll and dac were generated. When Dll- clones were generated before ~72 hours of development, hth was found to be derepressed and Exd was nuclear. However, clones generated after ~72 hours have no effect on hth or Exd, suggesting that there is an alternative mechanism for maintaining hth repression. Like Dll, Dac appears to have the capacity to repress hth. The ability of Dac to repress hth expression was confirmed by generating dac- clones. These dac- clones suggest that there might be other regulators of hth in addition to dac and Dll. Completely removing dac function results in viable animals that have deletions along the P/D axes of their legs. The expression patterns of Hth and Dll were examined in leg discs that were entirely devoid of dac function. In these discs, the hth domain appears expanded distally and the Dll domain appears to be expanded proximally, consistent with the idea that dac normally represses both hth and Dll. It is an apparent paradox that Wg and Dpp repress hth in the leg disc while these same signals activate hth expression and nuclear Exd in the midgut endoderm. This may be explained because in the leg, Wg and Dpp repress hth indirectly, by activating the hth repressors Dll and dac. In the absence of Dll or dac, hth is derepressed in the leg disc, even in cells that receive high levels of the Wg and Dpp signals. In contrast, in the embryonic endoderm, dac and Dll are not activated by Wg and Dpp, nor are any other known hth repressors, allowing hth to be activated in these cells (Abu-Shaar, 1998).
Patterning in insect legs is organized along anteroposterior
(AP), dorsoventral (DV) and proximodistal (PD) axes. In the
case of Drosophila, AP and DV axes of the leg imaginal discs
are established along the embryonic AP and DV axes, which are
set up based on maternal positional information. The PD axis,
however, is zygotically specified by cellular
interactions involving the secreted signaling molecules Wingless
and Decapentaplegic (Goto, 1999 and references).
PD axis formation in the leg disc first becomes evident when
cells expressing either Escargot (Esg) or Distal-less (Dll) are
arranged in a circular pattern. Dll
expression defines the central, distal domain. Esg-expressing
cells become the proximal domain, which surrounds the distal
domain. The Meis family homeodomain protein Homothorax
(Hth) is expressed in the proximal domain as well as in the
surrounding body wall. Hth regulates nuclear localization of
another homeodomain protein, Extradenticle (Exd). Exd
is active in the nucleus but inactive in the cytoplasm. The genetic requirements for Dll, Exd and Hth suggest that the distal domain gives rise to the majority
of the adult leg including tarsus, tibia, femur and trochanter
and that the proximal domain gives rise to the coxa and the ventral
thoracic body wall. Initial PD
subdivision in the embryonic leg disc becomes elaborated
during larval stages by activation of additional genes, such as
dachshund (dac), in a circular intermediate
domain between the distal and proximal domains. dac is
required for specification of the intermediate fate (Goto, 1999 and references).
The leg imaginal disc is also divided into a posterior
compartment, which expresses the secreted molecule Hedgehog
(Hh) and an anterior compartment, which responds to Hh by
expressing Wg and Dpp along the AP compartment
boundary. Mutual repression between Wg and Dpp limits Wg
expression to the ventral side and Dpp expression to the
dorsal side. This spatial restriction of Wg and Dpp expression is essential for
DV patterning of the leg. In addition, graded activities of Wg
and Dpp are required for the expression of Dll and dac and
repression of hth in the distal domain. In
the proximal domain, target gene activation by Dpp and Wg
is inhibited by Hth and Exd, suggesting that the distal and
proximal domains have distinct characters to respond to Dpp
and Wg (Goto, 1999 and references).
Based on the above observations, it was proposed that the
circular patterns of gene expression along the PD axis in the
distal domain are organized by the gradient of the combined
activity of Dpp and Wg. In the central, distal
region, where combined activity of Dpp and Wg would be
high, Dll is activated and dac is repressed. An intermediate
level of Wg and Dpp activities would allow dac expression
in the intermediate domain. Ectopic expression of Dll in the dorsal-proximal region induces wg, which is thought to interact with dpp to specify
a new PD axis. These results suggest that the combination of Wg and Dpp constitute a 'distalizing' signal for the PD axis (Goto, 1999 and references).
Although these results suggest that the combination of Wg
and Dpp activities centered at the distal tip is essential for PD
patterning, it is not known whether Wg and Dpp are sufficient
to account for all aspects of PD positional information. In fact,
the grafting and regeneration experiments using larval
cockroach legs suggest that the reciprocal communication between distal and proximal parts of a leg segment promotes regeneration of the
intermediate part. Thus it can be speculated that a proximal to distal
cell communication may also be used in PD patterning of the
leg during development. Esg is expressed
in the proximal domain throughout leg development. Ectopic expression of Esg and its activator Hth in the distal domain induces the intermediate fate in surrounding cells by inducing dac expression. Esg and Hth-expressing
cells in the distal domain undergo a change in
their adhesive property to sort out from surrounding cells.
The proximal to distal inductive communication is
unexpected from the model based on the graded activity
of Dpp and Wg. Thus an intercalary
mechanism that elaborates the PD axis pattern of the leg has been proposed.
During the transition from the second to
third instar, dac expression in the intermediate domain is induced by (1) a combination of a signal from proximal cells, and (2) Wg and Dpp signaling from
the AP compartment boundary. The range of each signaling
limits dac expression to the intermediate domain.
The proximal to distal signaling dependent on Esg and Hth may provide a molecular basis for the intercalary expression of dac (Goto, 1999 and references).
Thus, it has not been clear whether
Wingless and Decapentaplegic are sufficient for the
circular pattern of gene expression in the Drosophila leg. A proximal gene escargot and its activator homothorax have been shown to regulate proximodistal patterning in the distal domain. Clones of cells expressing either escargot or homothorax placed in the distal domain induce intercalary expression of dachshund in surrounding cells and reorient the planar cell
polarity of those cells. escargot and homothorax-expressing
cells also sort out from other cells in the distal domain. Thus, inductive cell communication between the proximodistal domains is the cellular basis for an
intercalary mechanism, involving expression of dachshund, during proximodistal axis patterning of the limb (Goto, 1999).
Proximal cell identity is, at least in part, controlled by the
homeodomain protein Hth, which regulates nuclear localization
of Exd. When expressed ectopically in the tarsal region, Hth
causes non-cell-autonomous induction of dac expression and reversal of bristle and cell polarity. These
phenotypes are very similar to those caused by Esg. Unlike esg-expressing
clones, which secrete a smooth cuticle, hth-expressing
clones in the distal part of the leg sometimes
form thick socketed bristles without bracts, a
characteristic of the bristles in the proximal part of the leg. Hth strongly activates a
reporter gene under the control of the esg enhancer in the distal
domain, but it does so weakly, if at all, in the proximal
domain. This effect is cell-autonomous,
suggesting that Hth may directly regulate transcription of esg.
In contrast, neither a loss nor a gain of esg expression
affects the activity of Hth/Exd as assessed by the expression of Hth and nuclear localization of Exd, nor is esg expression affected by the expression of another proximal gene, teashirt. These results suggest that Esg acts downstream of Hth/Exd to regulate proximodistal patterning (Goto, 1999).
The esg- or hth-expressing clones in the distal region are
round in shape with smooth borders and often invaginated
basally to form vesicles in the adult legs and in the larval discs. In contrast, control clones expressing non-functional esg, which lacks the zinc-finger domain, and esg-expressing clones located in the coxa and trochanter, have
ragged borders. The epithelial-type homophilic cell adhesion molecule DE-cadherin is expressed throughout the leg discs and its apical localization is maintained normally in esg-expressing clones, suggesting that these cells keep their epithelial character. These results of ectopic expression studies, together
with the loss of function studies on hth, indicate that Hth
and Esg regulate a cell surface property that distinguishes the
proximal and distal domains. It is suggested that inductive cell communication between the proximodistal domains, which is maintained in part by a
cell-sorting mechanism, is the cellular basis for an intercalary mechanism of the proximodistal axis patterning of the limb (Goto, 1999).
Segmentation is a developmental mechanism that subdivides a tissue into repeating functional units, which can then be further elaborated upon during development. In contrast to embryonic segmentation, Drosophila leg segmentation occurs in a tissue that is rapidly growing in size and thus segmentation must be coordinated with tissue growth. Segmentation of the Drosophila leg, as assayed by expression of the key regulators of segmentation, the Notch ligands and fringe, occurs progressively and this study defines the sequence in which the initial segmental subdivisions arise. The proximal-distal patterning genes homothorax and dachshund are positively required, while Distal-less is unexpectedly negatively required, to establish the segmental pattern of Notch ligand and fringe expression. Two Serrate enhancers that respond to regulation by dachshund are also identified. Together, these studies provide evidence that distinct combinations of the proximal-distal patterning genes independently regulate each segmental ring of Notch ligand and fringe expression and that this regulation occurs through distinct enhancers. These studies thus provide a molecular framework for understanding how segmentation during tissue growth is accomplished (Rauskolb, 2001).
A general theme in patterning during development is the subdivision of tissues initially by genes expressed in broad, partially overlapping domains, which through combinatorial control, subsequently regulate the expression of downstream genes to generate a repeating pattern. The studies presented here demonstrate that leg segmentation follows this same theme. The 'leg gap genes' Hth, Dac, and Distal-less are expressed in broad domains in the leg disc that encompass more than a single segment. Initially expression of these genes is largely nonoverlapping, but as the leg disc grows, the expression patterns of the leg gap genes change such that five different domains of gene expression are established. The analysis of the regulation of Notch ligand and fringe expression during leg development reveals two fundamental aspects of leg development. (1) These leg gap genes are key components in regulating the expression of the molecules controlling segmentation. Indeed, the effect of these leg gap genes on leg segmentation and growth can be accounted for by their regulation of Serrate, Delta and fringe expression. (2) The expression of each ring of Serrate, Delta and fringe is controlled by its own unique combination of regulators, apparently acting through independent enhancers (Rauskolb, 2001).
How do these three transcription factors regulate the formation of nine segments? Since the requirements for and the expression of the leg gap genes encompasses all leg segments, it is unlikely that there are additional leg gap genes yet to be identified. Rather, a collection of distinct combinatorial approaches is used to establish a segmental pattern of Serrate, Delta and fringe expression (Rauskolb, 2001).
In early third instar leg discs, there are two domains of gene expression: proximal cells express Hth and distal cells express Distal-less. Hth autonomously promotes the expression of Serrate, while Distal-less may prevent expression more distally, giving rise to a ring of expression in the coxa. Additionally, Distal-less-expressing cells may signal to the Hth-expressing cells to restrict Serrate expression to the distal edge of the Hth domain. As the leg disc grows, cells in an intermediate position, lying between the Hth and Distal-less domains, begin to express Dac. Dac, as shown in this study, is both necessary and sufficient to induce the expression of Serrate, Delta and fringe within the femur. Since they are not expressed in all Dac-expressing cells, other factors appear to be required to promote their expression in the proximal femur. The nonautonomous induction of Serrate expression by Hth suggests that this may be accomplished by a signal (X) emanating from the neighboring Hth-expressing cells. By mid third instar stages, expression of Serrate, Delta and fringe is also observed in tarsal segments 2 and 5, within cells expressing Distal-less but not Dac. Given that Distal-less is necessary and sufficient to repress their expression, Serrate, Delta and fringe expression within the tarsus appears to be induced by a mechanism that overrides the repressive effects of Distal-less. Subsequently, expression of Serrate, Delta and fringe is observed within the tibia, in cells expressing both Dac and Distal-less. Dac is necessary for expression of Serrate within the tibia, and its role here may be to overcome the repressive effects of Distal-less. It is also worth noting that the tibia ring of expression is not established at the time when cells first express both Dac and Distal-less. This may be because Dac levels may not be sufficiently high enough to overcome the repression by Distal-less. Clearly levels of Dac expression are critical because simply increasing Dac levels is sufficient to promote Serrate expression in cells already expressing endogenous levels of Dac. This observation can be explained if high levels of Dac expression in cells already expressing Dac override the function of inhibitory regulators of Serrate expression, such as Distal-less, where the expression of these genes overlap. Although late stages of leg segmentation were not investigated in this study, it has been noted that Hth, Dac and Distal-less are co-expressed in the presumptive trochanter late in leg development. It is thus hypothesized that Serrate, Delta and fringe expression is established by the combined activities of the three leg gap genes in the trochanter (Rauskolb, 2001).
Although these here have focused on the regulation of Serrate expression, it is thought that not only Serrate, but also Delta and fringe, receive primary regulatory input from the leg gap genes. Delta and fringe expression, like Serrate, is positively regulated by Dac. Moreover, Dl and fringe mutants have stronger leg segmentation phenotypes than Ser mutants, and thus Delta and fringe expression cannot simply be regulated downstream of Ser. The identification of two separate Ser enhancers, directing expression in the proximal versus distal leg, argues against Serrate being regulated downstream of Dl and fringe. Thus, the simplest model is that expression of all three genes is regulated directly by the leg gap genes. The regulation of Serrate, Delta and fringe expression in each segment appears to occur through independent and separable enhancer elements, supported by the analysis of the Ser reporter genes. This is reminiscent of what occurs during Drosophila embryonic segmentation, where separable enhancer elements direct different stripes of pair-rule gene expression (Rauskolb, 2001).
Most of the tarsus of the Drosophila leg derives from cells expressing Distal-less, but not Dac or Hth. Surprisingly, the studies presented here have shown that Distal-less actually represses Notch ligand expression. This negative regulatory role for Distal-less contrasts with the positive promoting role of Dac and Hth, and further indicates that a distinct molecular mechanism must promote segmentation within the tarsus. One key gene is spineless-aristapedia (ss), since simple, unsegmented tarsi develop in ss mutant flies. Moreover, ss regulates the expression of bric-à-brac (bab), which is also required for the subdivision of the tarsus into individual segments. Together, ss and bab must, in some way, ultimately overcome the repression of Notch ligand and fringe expression by Distal-less. If the sole function of ss and bab is to overcome the inhibitory effects of Distal-less, then in the absence of ss and/or bab, Serrate expression is expected to remain repressed (Rauskolb, 2001).
Intriguingly, the only notable variation between insect species is in the number of tarsal segments, with an unsegmented tarsus believed to be the ancestral state. Thus, the combinatorial regulation of segmentation by the leg gap genes may represent an ancient mechanism common to all insect species, a hypothesis supported by the conserved expression of Hth, Dac and Distal-less in the developing legs of many insect species (Rauskolb, 2001 and references therein).
The Drosophila antenna is a highly derived appendage required for a variety of sensory functions including olfaction and audition. To investigate how this complex structure is patterned, the specific functions of genes required for antenna development were examined. The nuclear factors, Homothorax, Distal-less and Spineless, are each required for particular aspects of antennal fate. Coexpression of Homothorax, necessary for nuclear localization of its ubiquitously expressed partner Extradenticle with Distal-less is required to establish antenna fate. This study tests which antenna patterning genes are targets of Homothorax, Distal-less and/or Spineless. Antennal expression of dachshund, atonal, spalt, and cut requires Homothorax and/or Distal-less, but not Spineless. It is concluded that Distal-less and Homothorax specify antenna fates via regulation of multiple genes. Phenotypic consequences of losing either dachshund or spalt and spalt-related from the antenna are reported. dachshund and spalt/spalt-related are essential for proper joint formation between particular antennal segments. Furthermore, the spalt/spalt-related null antennae are defective in hearing. Hearing defects are also associated with the human diseases Split Hand/Split Foot Malformation and Townes-Brocks Syndrome, which are linked to human homologs of Distal-less and spalt, respectively. It is therefore proposed that there are significant genetic similarities between the auditory organs of humans and flies (Dong, 2002).
As with Dll and hth loss-of-function mutants, loss of spineless (ss) also results in antenna to leg transformations. The genetic relationship among these genes was investigated. The expression of both Dll and hth appears relatively normal in the ss null antennal disc. It is therefore concluded that ss is not required for either the activation or the maintenance of Dll or hth expression in the antenna. It has been reported that Dll is required for the antennal expression of ss. To test whether Hth is also required to activate antennal ss expression, the effect of ectopic hth was examined. Ectopic Hth where Dll is expressed, for example in the wing pouch and leg disc, can activate ss expression. Conversely, loss of hth in the antenna results in loss of ss expression. Taken together, these results indicate that ss functions downstream of both Dll and hth in the antenna (Dong, 2002).
There are only a few genes expressed in either the antenna or the leg but not in both. Among these are sal and salr, which are identically expressed in a ring pattern in presumptive a2, but are detected at low levels only in leg imaginal disc cells that contribute to the body wall and not to the leg itself (Dong, 2002).
In contrast, there are other genes expressed in both antenna and leg precursors that have distinct patterns in the two appendages. Among these are dac, ato, ct and ss. The domain of dac expression in the antenna (a3) is much smaller than in the leg where it is expressed in multiple segments. The function of dac in antennal development has not been described previously (Dong, 2002).
The bHLH transcription factor encoding gene, ato, is expressed in a ring in presumptive a2, but restricted to small spots in the dorsal leg disc. ato is required for the formation of most chordotonal organs in the fly. In the antenna, ato is required for formation of Johnston's organ (JO), a complex sense organ composed of a large number of chordotonal organs that is used for sensing acoustic vibrations transmitted from the arista through a3 (Dong, 2002).
cut, which is required for differentiation of external sensory (ES) class neurons, is expressed throughout the presumptive proximal antenna (a1 and a2) and head capsule but is expressed in small clusters of cells throughout the leg disc (Dong, 2002).
ss is expressed in a circular pattern in the antenna covering the presumptive a2 through the arista. In the leg disc, ss is transiently expressed in a ring pattern in the presumptive tarsal region and subsequently becomes restricted to leg bristle precursors. Consistent with the ss expression domain, cuticular defects in ss null mutants can be found from a2 through the arista. These include the elongation of a2, loss of olfactory sensilla from a3, and transformation of a4, a5, and arista to tarsal segments (Dong, 2002).
The large differences in the expression patterns of these genes between the antenna and the leg begs the question of whether these differences are due to differential regulation by antenna-determining genes such as Dll and hth. To test whether Dll or hth are responsible for the antenna-specific expression patterns of these genes, the effects on their patterns were examined in Dll and hth loss-of-function mutants. Whether Dll and hth are regulating their antenna-specific targets via ss was tested by examining their expression in ss null antennal discs (Dong, 2002).
In contrast to the leg, in the antenna dac expression is restricted primarily to a single segment (a3). Trace levels of Dac can be detected in areas of the antennal disc immediately distal and proximal to a3. Because no antennal phenotypes have been reported for loss-of-function dac mutants, it is unclear whether dac plays a role in patterning this appendage. In transheterozygous dac null mutants, a fusion of the a5 segment with the arista occurs, accompanied by a reduction in the width of the a5 segment. This fusion phenotype is similar to what is observed in dac hypomorphic and null legs. However, unlike the leg phenotype, no obvious reductions in length or loss of segments is found in the dac mutant antenna. In addition, this antennal phenotype is observed in dac null animals but not in strong hypomorphic combinations such as daclacZ/dac4. Therefore, high levels of Dac are probably not necessary for dac function in the antenna (Dong, 2002).
If Dac levels are elevated in the antenna, expression of Dll and hth is repressed and medial leg structures are induced. Therefore if Dac levels are too high, antenna development is compromised. Because bab mutants exhibit phenotypes similar to those of dac, and dac regulates bab expression in the antenna, it is likely that antennal dac function is mediated via its regulation of bab (Dong, 2002).
The antennal dac expression domain expands in Dll hypomorphs and in hth null clones. This expansion of dac expression in Dll and hth mutant antennae resembles the leg pattern of dac expression. In contrast, in the ss null antenna, there appears to be neither expansion nor reduction of dac expression. The only detectable difference in the ss null antennal disc is overgrowth in the central (distal) area such that the ring of dac expression has a larger radius. This correlates with the transformation phenotype of the ss null arista into a tarsus, which is a larger structure. Since the expression of dac relative to other genes appears normal in ss null antennae, ss is not thought to regulate dac (Dong, 2002).
The expression of ato is required for the formation of the JO. The JO is a structure unique to the antenna and is required to sense sound vibrations transmitted from the arista. ato function is generally associated with neuronal differentiation, so it is interesting that cuticular defects are associated with ato null antennae. It may be that formation of the JO is required for the normal morphology of the a2/a3 joint. The circular outline of the a2/a3 joint is lost in hth and Dll loss-of-function mutants, but is present in ss null mutants. Consistent with this, the antennal expression of ato is lost in hth null clones and in Dll hypomorphs, but persists in the ss null antenna discs. Thus although ss null mutants exhibit cuticular defects in a2 and a3, the a2/a3 joint to which the JO is attached is present. It is noted that the Dll hypomorphic combination used, DllGAL4/Dll3, does not lead to loss of a2. Thus the absence of ato expression in these antennae is not due to death of the cells that would normally express it (Dong, 2002).
sal and salr have similar sequences and are identically expressed in the antennal imaginal disc in presumptive a2. However, functions for sal and salr in the antenna have not yet been described. To investigate whether sal and/or salr are required for normal antenna development, clones null either for sal alone or for both sal and salr in the adult head were examined. Clones null for only sal in the antenna have no obvious cuticular phenotypes. However Df(2L)32FP-5 clones, which are null for both sal and salr, exhibit cuticular defects in the antenna. This supports the view that sal and salr have some redundant functions. The areas affected in the mutants are correlated with their expression domains in the antennal disc (Dong, 2002).
a2 normally forms a cup, in which a3 sits and must rotate along the PD axis, to transmit sound vibrations from the arista. An overall reduction in a2 is observed in salFCK–25/Df(2L)32FP-5 transheterozygous null antennae. In addition, a2 appears to be fused to a3 and a portion of the stalk that connects a3 to a2 is exposed. The circular outline of the a2/a3 joint, to which the chordotonal organs of the JO attach, is defective in Df(2L)32FP-5 clones and lost in salFCK–25/Df(2L)32FP-5 mutant antennae. Furthermore, a3 is unable to rotate in a2. The same antenna phenotypes are observed in salFCK–25 homozygous flies. However, these phenotypes are not observed in sal null clones generated using a sal16 FRT40A chromosome or in salFCK–25/sal16 transheterozygous antennae, that do not express sal but do express salr in the antenna. Together, the loss of the a2/a3 joint and the loss of the freedom of rotation of a3 in a2 indicate that sal/salr null antennae are defective in hearing and implicate both sal and salr in normal development of the auditory organ (Dong, 2002).
Since ato is expressed within a subset of the sal/salr domain and is activated later than sal and salr in the antenna, tests were performed to see whether Dll and hth activate ato via sal/salr. No detectable reduction of ato expression is found in a2 either in Df(2L)32FP-5 clones or in salFCK–25/Df(2L)32FP-5 transheterozygous animals. This allelic combination lacks detectable sal and salr expression in the antenna, but retains sal and salr expression in the eye. The normal expression of ato in the antennae of these mutants suggests that the activation of ato expression by Dll and hth is independent of sal/salr. Antennal sal/salr expression is also unaffected in ato null imaginal discs. Therefore, sal/salr and ato are required in parallel for development of antennae that are functional in audition (Dong, 2002).
Dll and hth are required for the expression of sal in the antenna. sal expression does not appear to be affected in ss null antenna. The fact that Ss is not required for the expression of either ato or sal in a2 is consistent with the observation that the a2/a3 joint is still present in the ss null antenna (Dong, 2002).
Expression of the homeodomain transcription factor encoded by ct almost completely fills the hth expression domain of the third instar antennal disc. In contrast, the ct and hth expression patterns in the leg disc are distinct from one another. This makes ct a strong antenna-specific candidate target for Hth. The antennal expression of ct is lost in hth null clones indicating that ct is indeed downstream of hth. To test whether the a2 expression of ct also requires Dll, ct expression was examined in Dll mutants. ct expression is not reduced in Dll null clones or in Dll hypomorphs. Therefore, although Dll and hth are both required for antennal fate, cut is an antenna-specific target of Hth activation that is independent of Dll. As with other antenna-specific targets of Dll and Hth, ct expression is also not lost in ss null antenna (Dong, 2002).
This study serves to initiate an understanding of the different roles that these homeotic genes are playing in antenna specification. During imaginal disc development, the expression of Dll and ss is found from a2, a3, a4, a5 and arista. Expression of hth is dynamic and retracts from the distal-most segments by late third instar, but hth is expressed and cell-autonomously required throughout the antenna from a1 through to the arista (Dong, 2002).
The Dll mutant phenotypes indicate that Dll is required both for the distal limb development and for antenna fate. Dll hypomorphs exhibit distal limb deletions as well as antenna to leg transformation. The transformation phenotypes of hypomorphic Dll antennae can be observed from a2 through to the arista. In these mutants, hth expression is not lost or detectably reduced. Thus medial leg structures can develop in the presence of Hth. This suggests that although loss of hth expression from the distal and medial leg, via Antennapedia-mediated repression, occurs during normal leg development, loss of Hth is not essential for leg differentiation. It also suggests that the requirement for Antennapedia in normal leg development is not only to regulate hth (Dong, 2002).
Since ss is not required to activate antenna-specific expression of genes such as sal/salr and ato that are involved in antenna differentiation, the question arises as to what ss does do in the antenna. ss represses tarsus and tarsal claw organ formation in the antenna. Since loss of ss also leads to loss of olfactory sensillae on a3, ss probably potentiates the formation of these sensillae, either cooperating with or mediating Dll and hth activities in a3. Similarly, since ectopic expression of ss elsewhere in the body can lead to the formation of ectopic aristae, ss may also cooperate with or mediate Dll and hth activities in arista differentiation (Dong, 2002).
sal and salr, like ato, are required for normal auditory functions. Since both Dll and hth are required for the antennal expression of ato and sal, Dll and hth mutant antennae are also hearing defective. In contrast, ss null antennae exhibit normal expression of both ato and sal and normal morphology of the a2/a3 joint, leading to the idea that ss mutants are likely to be functional in audition (Dong, 2002).
Homeotic genes, Dll and hth, regulate multiple targets during antennal development. These targets function in specifying antenna structures and/or in repressing leg development. For example, the ss mutant phenotype suggests that it represses leg tarsal differentiation. But ss is also required for the formation of olfactory sensory sensilla normally found in a3. Although Dll and hth repress distal leg development via activation of ss, their repression of medial leg development appears to be, at least in part, independent of ss. Instead, this is achieved via their regulation of the medial leg gene, dac, to a narrower domain of expression with lower levels in the antenna as compared to the leg. sal/salr and ato are required for proper differentiation of a2. However, no transformation phenotypes are associated with the sal/salr and ato null antenna. This indicates that while sal/salr and ato are required to make particular antenna-specific structures, they do not appear to repress leg fates. Therefore homeotic genes such as Dll and hth repress the elaboration of other tissue fates in addition to activating genes required for the differentiation of particular tissues (Dong, 2002).
In third instar imaginal discs, coexpression of Dll and Hth activates sal/salr and ato in a2 where they, in turn, are needed for JO development. The expression of ato is required for the formation of the JO and the a2/a3 joint to which it is attached. Although sal and salr are not required for the expression of ato, the a2/a3 joint is lost in the sal/salr null antenna. It is expected that this leads to improper formation of the JO, although it is also possible that defects in a2/a3 joint formation preclude JO differentiation. In addition, because sal is not lost in ato null antennae, it is concluded that sal/salr and ato are required in Drosophila parallel for proper formation of the JO. Furthermore, in the sal/salr null antenna, a3 cannot freely rotate within a2. This rotation is necessary for transmission of sound vibrations from the arista to the JO. Taken together, these findings implicate sal/salr in Drosophila audition. Interestingly, mutations associated with the human homolog of sal, SALL1 cause the human autosomal dominant developmental disorder, Townes-Brocks Syndrome (TBS). Auditory defects are also associated with the human genetic disorder, Split Hand/Split Foot Malformation (SHFM), and the SHFM1 locus is linked to the Dll homologs, DLX5 and DLX6. The sensorineural hearing defects associated with the Distal-less and spalt genes in both Drosophila and Homo sapiens, in conjunction with a recent finding that atonal functions in mouse as well as fly audition, leads to the proposal that insect and vertebrate hearing share a common evolutionary origin. Further developmental genetic dissection of the Drosophila auditory system should therefore provide additional insights into human ear development and suggest that Drosophila could provide a useful model system for studying both TBS and SHFM (Dong, 2002).
In the wing wingless is expressed in a complex
and dynamic pattern that is controlled by several different mechanisms. These involve the Hedgehog and Notch pathways and the nuclear proteins Pannier and U-shaped. The mechanisms that drive wingless expression in the wing hinge have been analyzed. Evidence is presented that wingless is
initially activated by a secreted signal that requires the genes vestigial, rotund and nubbin. Later in development, wingless expression in the wing hinge is maintained by a different mechanism, which involves an autoregulatory loop and requires the genes homothorax and
rotund. The role of wingless in patterning the wing hinge is discussed (Rodriguez, 2002).
The adult wing is formed by a continuous monolayer of epidermal cells that folds to form the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the wing pouch. The two surfaces contact at the margin of the wing and extend proximally through the wing hinge to the dorsal notum and the ventral pleura. In the presumptive wing region of the wing disc, wg is expressed in a narrow stripe of cells that runs all along the wing margin and in two rings that surround the wing pouch. The phenotypes and wg expression have been examined in several mutants in which the wing hinge is deleted (Rodriguez, 2002).
Several results presented here indicate that Wg signaling activates hth expression, which is in turn required to maintain wg expression. wg and hth are co-expressed in the IR (inner ring) and OR (outer ring), and wg expression precedes hth expression. spd mutations are a type of wg allele that specifically removes wg expression from the IR, with no effects on other expression domains. hth expression is missing in spdfg discs, and wg expression is lost in hth mutant clones. Nevertheless, spdfg discs show activation of the IR enhancer, as revealed by the spd-lacZ construct and wg expression is not affected in hth mutant clones when observed in early third instar larvae. This indicates that Hth, while required to maintain IR activation, is not required to initiate wg expression (Rodriguez, 2002).
Legs and antennae are considered to be homologous appendages. The fundamental patterning mechanisms that organize spatial pattern are conserved, yet appendages with very different morphology develop. The distal antenna (dan) and distal antenna-related (danr) genes encode novel 'pipsqueak' motif nuclear proteins that probably function as DNA binding proteins serving as sequence-specific transcription factors but may serve instead as more general
chromatin modification factors. dan and danr are expressed in the presumptive distal antenna, but not in the leg imaginal disc. Ectopic expression of dan or danr causes partial transformation of distal leg structure toward antennal identity. Mutants that remove dan and danr activity cause partial transformation of antenna toward leg identity. Therefore it is suggested that dan and danr contribute to differentiation of antenna-specific characteristics. Antenna-specific expression of dan and danr depends on a regulatory hierarchy involving homothorax and Distal-less, as well as cut and spineless. It is proposed that dan and danr are effector genes that act downstream of these genes to control differentiation of distal antennal structures (Emerald, 2003).
The overlap between Hth and Dll has been proposed to define antennal
identity, because co-expression of the two proteins in ectopic locations can
induce formation of ectopic arista structures in other discs. To ask
whether Hth and Dll have a role in defining the non-overlapping expression
domains of Cut and Dan/Danr, clones of cells were examined lacking hth
or Dll activity in the antenna. Dan expression is lost in cells
mutant for hthc1 in the region where the two expression
domains overlap. This
suggests that Hth activity is required for Dan expression. Likewise, clones of
cells lacking Dll activity have lost Dan expression in the distal region
of the disc. Many Dll mutant clones were found adjacent to the edge of the
Dan domain,
suggesting that loss of Dan may cause these clones to sort out proximally.
Thus both Dll and Hth are required for Dan expression (Emerald, 2003).
Ectopic expression of Hth in the leg disc under dppGal4
control, induces Dan expression in distal, Dll-expressing cells. It is known that Hth-expressing cells sort out from the distal region of the disc.
This is also visible in GFP labeled cells in this study. Nonetheless,
dppGal4 directed expression of Hth induces Dan expression
in distal cells. This raises the possibility of a non-autonomous effect of Hth
expression leading to sustained Dan expression. Ectopic expression of Dll in
the leg disc under dppGal4 control, induces Dan expression
in proximal, Hth-expressing cells. In this case, ectopic Dan was limited to cells expressing the Gal4 driver (Emerald, 2003).
These observations indicate that the regulatory relationship between Hth,
Dll and Dan (Danr) is complex. Dll and Hth are each required for Dan
expression. However, it is clear that Dan is not expressed in every cell in
which Hth and Dll are co-expressed in the antenna. All Dan-expressing distal
antenna cells express Dll but not all express Hth. These observations point to a
non-autonomous effect of Hth on Dan expression, which may explain how Hth can
be required for sustained expression of Dan in distal cells where Hth is not
expressed (Emerald, 2003).
The formation of different structures in Drosophila depends on the combined activities of selector genes and signaling pathways. For instance, the antenna requires the selector gene homothorax, which distinguishes between the leg and the antenna and can specify distal antenna if expressed ectopically. Similarly, the eye is formed by a group of 'eye-specifying' genes, among them eyeless, which can direct eye development ectopically. hernandez (distal antenna related or danr) and fernandez (distal antenna or dan) are expressed in the antennal and eye primordia of the eye-antenna imaginal disc (see Dan and Danr). Hernandez and Fernandez are the names of twin brothers in Tintin comic-books. The predicted proteins encoded by these two genes have 27% common amino acids and include a Pipsqueak domain. Reduced expression of either hernandez or fernandez mildly affects antenna and eye development, while the inactivation of both genes partially transforms distal antenna into leg. Ectopic expression of either of the two genes results in two different phenotypes: such expression can form distal antenna, activating genes like homothorax, spineless, and spalt, and can promote eye development and activates eyeless. Reciprocally, eyeless can induce hernandez and fernandez expression, and homothorax and spineless can activate both hernandez and fernandez when ectopically expressed. The formation of eye by these genes seems to require Notch signaling, since both the induction of ectopic eyes and the activation of eyeless by the hernandez gene are suppressed when the Notch function is compromised. These results show that the hernandez and fernandez genes are required for antennal and eye development and are also able to specify eye or antenna ectopically (Suzanne, 2003).
To test whether hern and fer are sufficient to induce eye or antennal development, they were expressed ectopically using the GAL4/UAS system. When either the hern or the fer genes are misexpressed in the leg discs with dpp-GAL4 or Dll-GAL4 (EM212) drivers, distal legs are transformed to aristae. These transformations are accompanied by the ectopic expression of hth, sal, and ss, three genes expressed in the antennal primordium but not in the distal region of mature wild-type leg disc. Clones expressing either the hern or the fer genes in the leg or wing disc have smooth borders and frequently activate the sal and hth genes cell-autonomously. In dpp-GAL4/UAS-fer or ptc-GAL4/UAS-hern leg (or wing) discs, the expression of ss is also activated. Curiously, although ss is downstream of hth in the antenna and leg, ectopic ss in the leg disc can also activate hth in a few cells (Suzanne, 2003).
The hth or ss genes, together with Dll, are sufficient to develop ectopic distal antennae when expressed in different regions of the adult. The hern or fer genes are also able to elicit this transformation in the leg and they activate hth and ss. Conversely, when high levels of the Hth or Ss products are induced in the leg discs, ectopic expression of the hern and fer genes is found. To study the interactions between these genes in normal development, the relationship between Dll, hth, ss, and hern/fer in the antennal primordium was examined. A reduction of Hth activity using a dominant negative form of hth (UAS-EN-HTH1-430) results in a decreased activity of the MD634 and AC116 GAL4 lines, which reveal hern and fer expression, respectively. Similarly, in antennal discs of a Dll strong hypomorph or a ss null mutation, the expression of hern and fer disappears. These results suggests that hth, Dll, and ss are required to maintain hern and fer expression in the antenna. By contrast, high levels of hern or fer may reduce hth expression. In dpp-GAL4/UAS-fer or dpp-GAL4/UAS-hern larvae, the expression of hth (and sal) in the third antennal segment is eliminated or strongly reduced dorsally (where levels of hern and fer are high) and does not change or is ectopically activated ventrally (where levels of hern and fer are low). Similarly, fer-expressing clones are able to downregulate hth expression in the antennal primordium. These results suggest that levels of hern and fer expression may be important for a normal antennal development (Suzanne, 2003).
The differentiation of legs or antennae depends on the activity of the hth and Antp genes. The ss gene, however, is also able to transform distal leg (and also maxillary palp and rostral membrane) into distal antenna, and the absence of ss, like that of hth, transforms antenna into leg. Although ss seems to be downstream of Dll and hth in antenna specification, ectopic ss can activate hth in some cells of the leg disc. Similarly, misexpression of ss in the rostral membrane induces Dll expression. It seems, therefore, that ss can trigger an antennal genetic program when misexpressed in certain places (Suzanne, 2003).
The fer and hern genes are both required and sufficient to make part of the distal antenna. Four different genes, hth, ss, hern, and fer, are able to form distal antenna, together with Dll, when ectopically expressed. Their mutual regulation seems to differ when misexpressed in the leg disc or when normally expressed in the antennal primordium. In the leg disc, hern or fer activates hth and ss and, reciprocally, hth and ss induce hern and fer expression. Moreover, even ss can promote hth transcription, although just in a few cells. Taken together, these results suggest that the four genes can form distal antenna by activating each other's transcription when ectopically expressed (Suzanne, 2003).
In the third antennal segment, Dll, hth, and ss are required to activate hern/fer expression. Since ss is downstream of Dll and hth in the antenna, the activation of hern/fer by Dll and hth could be mediated by ss. It is noted, however, that the levels of hern and fer may modulate hth expression. Moderately increased levels of fer can activate hth in dpp-GAL4/UAS-fer discs but, when the levels of hern or fer in the antenna are highly increased, the transcription of hth is prevented. These results suggest that the total amount of hern and fer expression may be regulated in the antennal primordium. Accordingly, in clones mutant for danr (hern), the expression of dan (fer) is upregulated. Also supporting the conclusion that levels of hern and fer have to be regulated, it was found that, in ey-GAL4/UAS-hern or ey-GAL4/UAS-fer flies, where levels of either hern or fer are highly increased in the eye–antennal disc, both the eye and the antenna disappear (Suzanne, 2003).
The hern and fer genes can form ectopic aristae and eye tissue, but only in a limited number of regions of the adult cuticle. This is similar to what happens with other genes making ectopic antennae (hth, ss) or eye (eye-specification genes). This is due to the particular developmental context of the region where the genes are ectopically activated (Suzanne, 2003).
In Drosophila, differences between segments, such as the presence or absence of appendages, are controlled by Hox transcription factors. The Hox protein Ultrabithorax (Ubx) suppresses limb formation in the abdomen by repressing the leg selector gene Distalless, whereas Antennapedia (Antp), a thoracic Hox protein, does not repress Distalless. The Hox cofactors Extradenticle and Homothorax selectively enhance Ubx, but not Antp, binding to a Distalless regulatory sequence. A C-terminal peptide in Ubx stimulates binding to this site. However, DNA binding is not sufficient for Distalless repression. Instead, an additional alternatively spliced domain in Ubx is required for Distalless repression but not DNA binding. Thus, the functional specificities of Hox proteins depend on both DNA binding-dependent and -independent mechanisms (Gebelein, 2002).
This work begins with a characterization of a Ubx binding site in the Dll gene that is critical for Dll repression; both Exd and Hth play a role in Ubx binding and repression. The Dll304 enhancer is sufficient to recapitulate the early expression pattern of Dll in the embryonic leg primordia. In addition to activation functions, Dll304 contains two Hox binding sites, Bx1 and Bx2, that repress enhancer activity in the abdomen and thereby restrict Dll expression to the thorax. Most of the repression activity is conferred by Bx1, a sequence bound by Ubx and Abd-A. In agreement with this result, a Distalless minimal element (DME) that lacks the Bx2 site accurately recapitulates the expression of Dll304 in the embryonic thorax. The DME enhancer also shows no derepression within the abdomen, suggesting that Bx1 is sufficient to fully repress Dll (Gebelein, 2002).
To better understand how Bx1 represses Dll, the presence of Exd and Hth binding sites were sought near the previously characterized Hox binding site. A consensus Exd site and a near consensus Hth site are in close proximity to the Hox site of Bx1. The Hox/Exd site (5'-AAATTAAATCA-3'), however, is unlike other previously characterized Hox/Exd binding sites because it contains an additional base pair in between the Hox and Exd half-sites. The Bx1 region containing this Hox/Exd/Hth site is referred to as the Distalless repression element (DllR). To determine whether DllR is required to repress DME expression in the abdomen, it was deleted from the DME enhancer (DMEact) and its ability to activate a reporter gene was tested in vivo. DMEact drives gene expression in all abdominal segments as well as in the thoracic region. Because the thoracic expression driven by DMEact is similar to that of DME, the DllR region is not required for DME activation but solely functions in the repression of Dll in the abdomen (Gebelein, 2002).
To determine whether Exd and Hth stimulate Hox binding to DllR, electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs) were performed with purified Ubx, Exd, and Hth proteins. Unless stated otherwise, all of these experiments were performed with UbxIa, the most widely expressed of several Ubx isoforms. By themselves, Ubx or an Exd/Hth heterodimer are capable of weakly interacting with DllR. The combination of all three proteins results in a slower migrating band indicating the formation of a Ubx/Exd/Hth/DNA complex. The formation of this protein/DNA complex is highly cooperative when compared to the amount of binding observed with Ubx or Exd/Hth alone. To test the contribution of each binding site, point mutations were introduced within the individual Hox, Exd, and Hth sites. Mutation of any one of these sites results in a decrease in the formation of the trimeric protein/DNA complex, suggesting that all three are required for optimal binding to DllR (Gebelein, 2002).
To test whether the Hox, Exd, and Hth binding sites are also required for Dll repression in vivo, reporter constructs were created containing the lacZ gene under the control of mutant versions of the DME enhancer. Mutation of the Hox site (DMEHox) results in a similar level of derepression of reporter gene expression throughout the abdomen, as does the the complete deletion of DllR. Mutation of the Exd (DMEExd) and Hth (DMEHth) sites individually also results in derepression, albeit slightly weaker than mutation of the Hox site. However, if both the Exd and Hth sites are mutated together, full derepression is observed. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the efficient formation of a Hox/Exd/Hth trimeric complex on DllR is required for Dll repression within the abdomen (Gebelein, 2002).
These above data support a model in which a Ubx/Exd/Hth complex bound to DllR is necessary for Dll repression. Whether a single copy of DllR is sufficient to repress a heterologous enhancer element was tested. An artificial enhancer, called fkh(250con), is activated by Scr, Antp, and Ubx (with Exd and Hth), and thus provides a useful heterologous activator to test for DllR function. A reporter construct under the control of both fkh(250con) and DllR was created. Unlike fkh(250con), which is expressed in parasegments (PS) 2-6, the composite enhancer (fkh250con-DllR) is not expressed in PS 6, where Ubx is expressed. Ubx-mediated repression of fkh(250con)-DllR is more obvious in embryos mutant for abd-A, which derepress Ubx and, consequently, fkh(250con) throughout the abdomen. In this genetic background, fkh(250con)-DllR is still active only in PS 2-5. Furthermore, misexpression of Ubx throughout the embryo activates fkh(250con) but represses fkh(250con)-DllR. Taken together, these results indicate that DllR is sufficient to confer Ubx-mediated repression of a heterologous enhancer. In addition, these results also illustrate that Ubx/Exd/Hth complexes can mediate repression through DllR in the same cells as it mediates activation through fkh(250con) (Gebelein, 2002).
A general question for all transcription factors is how they achieve specificity in vivo. For the Hox proteins, a large number of studies have implicated sequences both within and outside the homeodomain as being important for their in vivo specificities. But how do these sequences function? Because DNA binding domains, including homeodomains, can also be protein interaction domains, studies that map the domains necessary for target gene regulation cannot answer this question by themselves. Instead, direct transcriptional targets must be identified and, once binding sites are characterized, DNA binding, in addition to target gene regulation, must be measured. The results allow two steps to be discriminated in the repression of Dll by Ubx. First, Exd and Hth stimulate Ubx, but not Antp, binding to DllR. In contrast, Ubx/Exd/Hth and Antp/Exd/Hth have similar affinities for a different "consensus" binding site (5'-CCATAAATCA-3'), suggesting that subtle differences in the DNA sequence, in addition to differences between Ubx and Antp, contribute to specificity. A C-terminal peptide in Ubx stimulates this cofactor-dependent binding to DllR. DNA binding, however, is not sufficient for Dll repression. Instead, an additional linker domain included in only a subset of Ubx isoforms is required for repression. Thus, a second step, the recruitment of additional factors to the Ubx/Exd/Hth complex bound to DllR, is implied by these data. In addition to the UbxIa linker, this step also requires the specific sequences and conformation imposed on the Ubx/Exd/Hth trimer by DllR (Gebelein, 2002).
Although the Ubx C terminus plays an important role in cofactor-dependent binding to DllR, additional domains contribute to optimal binding. In the presence of Exd and Hth, the AAUU chimera, but not heterologous AAUA or AAAU, binds DllR, suggesting that both the Ubx homeodomain and C terminus are important for optimal DNA binding to this site. The C terminus is not absolutely required for binding because a Ubx protein that lacks this domain (UUU*) is still able to bind well to DllR. Last, the finding that UUU*, but not AAU*, binds DllR suggests that a domain N terminal to the homeodomain also enhances DllR binding. Based on the crystal structures of Hox/Exd/DNA complexes, this difference could be due to the YPWM motif. Taken together, the data suggest that multiple regions of Ubx contribute to binding DllR and that no one domain is sufficient for full binding activity. This finding may be understood in light of the fact that the entire Ubx coding sequence has been constrained over millions of years of insect evolution to maintain leg (and Dll) repression in the abdomen (Gebelein, 2002).
Although these experiments focused on understanding why Antp is different from Ubx, the results provide some insights into the mechanism of transcriptional repression. The data strongly argue that a DNA-bound Ubx/Exd/Hth complex is necessary, but not sufficient, for repression. First, in addition to repressing Dll, Ubx/Exd/Hth activates fkh(250con). When both fkh(250con) and DllR simultaneously regulate the same reporter gene, DllR is able to repress gene expression in the same cells in which fkh(250con) normally activates gene expression. This result suggests that the repressor proteins required for DllR activity are not cell type specific and are widely expressed in the embryo. Further, these results suggest that differences between the fkh(250con) and DllR sequences determine whether transcription is activated or repressed. These sequences may recruit additional DNA binding factors that interact with the trimeric complex. These factors, which have not yet been identified, might provide or reveal a latent activation or repression domain within the Hox/Exd/Hth complex. Alternatively, another DNA binding factor may not be needed. Instead, the unique arrangement or spacing of the Hox, Exd, and Hth sites in these two elements may result in distinct conformations of the trimeric complex that recruit different coactivators or corepressors. Such a mechanism has been suggested for the nuclear receptor family of transcription factors and for the POU domain protein Pit-1, where a difference in spacing in a Pit-1 dimer binding site regulates the recruitment of a corepressor. Consistent with such a mechanism, it was found that the DllRcon binding site, which has one less base pair between the Hox and Exd half-sites than the DllR binding site, fails to repress transcription despite having a higher affinity for Ubx/Exd/Hth complexes. In addition, although repression activity for the UbxIa linker and C terminus in S2 cells can be measured, the experiments suggest that their activities are context dependent. The abdominal expression of DMEcon-lacZ suggests that the mere presence of these domains is not sufficient for repression. Thus, the data suggest that transcription factor domains have distinct properties when assayed by themselves versus when they are part of a multiprotein complex. Further, it is concluded that the unique architecture of the complex assembled on DllR is necessary for efficient repression (Gebelein, 2002).
During Drosophila embryogenesis, segments, each with an anterior and posterior compartment, are generated by the segmentation genes while the Hox genes provide each segment with a unique identity. These two processes have been thought to occur independently. This study shows tha abdominal Hox proteins work directly with two different segmentation proteins, Sloppy paired and Engrailed, to repress the Hox target gene Distalless in anterior and posterior compartments, respectively. These results suggest that segmentation proteins can function as Hox cofactors and reveal a previously unanticipated use of compartments for gene regulation by Hox proteins. The results suggest that these two classes of proteins may collaborate to directly control gene expression at many downstream target genes (Gebelein, 2004).
The segregation of groups of cells into compartments is fundamental to animal development. Originally defined in Drosophila, compartments are critical for providing cells with their unique positional address. The first compartments to form during Drosophila development are the anterior and posterior compartments and the key step to defining them is the activation of the gene engrailed (en). Expression of en, which encodes a homeodomain transcription factor, results in a posterior compartment fate, and the absence of en expression results in an anterior compartment fate. Once activated by gap and pair-rule genes, en expression and, consequently, the anterior–posterior compartment boundary later become dependent upon the protein Wingless (Wg), which is secreted from adjacent anterior compartment cells. Concurrently with anterior–posterior compartmentalization and segmentation, the expression of the eight Drosophila Hox genes is also initially established by the gap and pair-rule genes. The Hox genes, however, which also encode homeodomain transcription factors, do not contribute to the formation or number of segments but instead specify their unique identities along the anterior–posterior axis (Gebelein, 2004).
This flow of genetic information during Drosophila embryogenesis has led to the idea that anterior–posterior compartmentalization and segment identity specification are independent processes. In contrast to this view, this study shows that these two pathways are interconnected in previously unrecognized ways. Evidence is provided that Hox factors directly interact with segmentation proteins such as En to control gene expression. Moreover, Hox proteins collaborate with two different segmentation proteins in anterior and posterior cell types to regulate the same Hox target gene, revealing a previously unknown use of compartments to control gene expression by Hox proteins (Gebelein, 2004).
Distalless (Dll) is a Hox target gene that is required for leg development in Drosophila. In each thoracic hemisegment, wg, expressed by anterior cells adjacent to the anterior–posterior compartment boundary, activates Dll in a group of cells that straddle this boundary. A cis-regulatory element derived from Dll, called DMX, drives accurate Dll-like expression in the thorax. The abdominal Hox genes Ultrabithorax (Ubx) and abdominalA (abdA) directly repress Dll and DMX-lacZ in both compartments, thereby blocking leg development in the abdomen. DMX is composed of a large activator element (DMXact) and a 57-base-pair (bp) repressor element referred to here as DMX-R. Previous work demonstrated that Ubx and AbdA cooperatively bind to DMX-R with two homeodomain cofactors, Extradenticle (Exd) and Homothorax (Hth). In contrast, the thoracic Hox protein Antennapedia (Antp) does not repress Dll and does not bind DMX-R with high affinity in the presence or absence of Exd and Hth. Thus, repression of Dll in the abdomen depends in part on the ability of these cofactors to selectively enhance the binding of the abdominal Hox proteins to DMX-R (Gebelein, 2004).
Exd and Hth, as well as their vertebrate counterparts, are used as Hox
cofactors at many target genes. Moreover, Hox/Exd/Hth complexes are used for both gene activation and repression, raising the question of how the decision to activate or repress is determined. One view posits that these complexes do not directly recruit co-activators or co-repressors, but instead are required for target gene selection. Accordingly, other DNA sequences present at Hox/Exd/Hth-targeted elements would determine whether a target gene is activated or repressed. Consistent with this notion, DMX-R sequences isolated from six Drosophila species show extensive conservation outside the previously identified Hox (referred to here as Hox1) Exd and Hth binding sites, suggesting that they also play a role in Dll regulation (Gebelein, 2004).
To test a role for these conserved sequences, a thorough mutagenesis of DMX-R was performed. Each mutant DMX-R was cloned into an otherwise wild-type, full-length DMX and tested for activity in a standard reporter gene assay in transgenic embryos. Thoracic expression was normal in all cases. However, surprisingly, many of the DMX-R mutations, such as X5, resulted in abdominal de-repression only in En-positive posterior compartment cells, whereas other mutations, such as X2, resulted in abdominal de-repression only in En-negative anterior compartment cells. Single mutations in the Hox1, Exd, or Hth sites also resulted in de-repression predominantly in posterior cells. In contrast, deletion of the entire DMX-R (DMXact-lacZ), or mutations in both the X2 and X5 sites (DMX[X2 + X5]-lacZ), resulted in de-repression in both compartments. These results suggest that distinct repression complexes bind to the DMX-R in the anterior and posterior compartments and that segmentation genes play a role in Dll repression (Gebelein, 2004).
One clue to the identity of the proteins in these repression complexes is that the sequence around the Hth site is nearly identical to a Hth/Hox binding site that had been identified previously by a systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) approach using vertebrate Hox and Meis proteins. This similarity suggested the presence of a second, potentially redundant Hox binding site, Hox2. In agreement with this idea, mutations in both the Hox1 and Hox2 binding sites resulted in de-repression in both the anterior and posterior compartments of the abdominal segments. Similarly, although individual mutations in the Exd and Hth binding sites lead predominantly to de-repression in the posterior compartment, mutation of both sites resulted in de-repression in both compartments. These results suggest that a Hox/Exd/Hth/Hox complex may be used for repression in both compartments. Furthermore, they suggest that although single mutations in these binding sites are sufficient to disrupt the activity of this complex in the posterior compartment, double mutations are required to disrupt its activity in the anterior compartment (Gebelein, 2004).
To provide biochemical evidence for a Hox/Exd/Hth/Hox tetramer, DNA binding experiments were performed using DMX-R probes and proteins expressed and purified from E. coli. Previous experiments demonstrated that a Hox/Exd/Hth trimer cooperatively binds to the Hox1, Exd and Hth sites. The function of the Hox2 site was tested in two ways. First, binding was measured to a probe, DMX-R2, that includes the Exd, Hth and Hox2 sites, but not the Hox1 site. It was found that Exd/Hth/AbdA and Exd/Hth/Ubx trimers cooperatively bind to this probe and that mutations in the Hth, Exd or Hox2 binding sites reduced or eliminated complex formation (Gebelein, 2004).
Second, if both the Hox1 and Hox2 sites are functional, the full-length DMX-R may promote the assembly of Hox/Exd/Hth/Hox tetramers. Using a probe containing all four binding sites (DMX-R1 + 2), the formation of such complexes was observed. Mutation of any of the four binding sites reduced the amount of tetramer binding whereas mutation of both Hox sites or both the Exd and Hth sites eliminated tetramer binding. Furthermore, Antp, which does not repress Dll, formed tetramers with Exd and Hth that were approximately tenfold weaker than with Ubx or AbdA, but bound well to a consensus Hox/Exd/Hth trimer binding site. Because mutation of both Hox sites or both the Exd and Hth sites resulted in de-repression in both compartments, these experiments correlate the binding of a Hox/Exd/Hth/Hox complex on the DMX-R with the ability of this element to mediate repression in both compartments (Gebelein, 2004).
Although binding of a Hox/Exd/Hth/Hox tetramer is sufficient to account for the necessary abdominal Hox-input into Dll repression, it does not explain the compartment-specific de-repression exhibited by some DMX-R mutations. The X2 and X5 mutations, for example, result in abdominal de-repression but do not prevent the formation of the Hox/Exd/Hth/Hox tetramer. Sequence inspection of the DMX-R revealed that the X2 mutation, which resulted in de-repression specifically in the anterior compartment, disrupts two partially overlapping matches to a consensus binding site for Forkhead (Fkh) domain proteins. With this in mind, the expression pattern of Sloppy paired 1 (Slp1), a Fkh domain factor encoded by one of two partially redundant segmentation genes, slp1 and slp2, was examined. The two slp genes are expressed in anterior compartment cells adjacent and anterior to En-expressing posterior compartment cells. In the thorax, cells expressing Dll and DMX-lacZ co-express either Slp or En at the time Dll is initially expressed. In the abdomen, the homologous group of cells, which express DMXact-lacZ (a reporter lacking the DMX-R), co-express either Slp in the anterior compartment or En in the posterior compartment. The expression patterns of Slp and En were compared with Ubx and AbdA. Ubx levels are highest in anterior, Slp-expressing cells whereas AbdA levels are elevated in posterior, En-expressing cells. In contrast, both Exd and Hth are present at similar levels in both compartments throughout the abdomen (Gebelein, 2004).
On the basis of these data, a model is presented for Hox-mediated repression of Dll in both the anterior and posterior compartments of the abdominal segments. In the anterior compartment it is proposed that Slp binds to DMX-R directly with a Ubx/Exd/Hth/Ubx tetramer. In the posterior compartment it is suggested that En binds to DMX-R directly with an AbdA/Exd/Hth/AbdA tetramer. One important feature of this model is that Antp/Exd/Hth/Antp complexes fail to form on this DNA, thereby accounting for the lack of repression in the thorax. Furthermore, the model proposes that Slp and En should, on their own, have only weak affinity for DMX-R sequences because repression does not occur in the thorax, despite the presence of these factors. The Hox/Exd/Hth/Hox complex, perhaps in conjunction with additional factors, is required to recruit or stabilize Slp and En binding to the DMX-R. Both Slp and En are known repressor proteins that directly bind the co-repressor Groucho. Thus, the proposed complexes in both compartments provide a direct link to this co-repressor and, therefore, a mechanism for repression. DNA binding and genetic experiments are presented that test and support this model (Gebelein, 2004).
To test the idea that En is playing a direct role in Dll repression, the ability of En and Hox proteins to bind to DMX-R probes was examined. On its own, En binds to DMX-R very poorly. Surprisingly, it was found that En binds DMX-R with the abdominal Hox proteins Ubx or AbdA in a highly cooperative manner. The thoracic Hox protein Antp does not bind cooperatively with En to this probe. Mutations in the Hox1 or X5 binding sites block AbdA/En binding in vitro, consistent with these mutations showing posterior compartment de-repression in vivo. In contrast, the X6, X7 and Hth mutations do not affect AbdA/En complex formation (Gebelein, 2004).
On the basis of DMX-R's ability to assemble a Hox/Exd/Hth/Hox tetramer, whether En could bind together with an AbdA/Exd/Hth/AbdA complex was tested. Addition of En to reactions containing AbdA, Exd and Hth resulted in the formation of a putative En/AbdA/Exd/Hth/AbdA complex. This complex contains En because its formation is inhibited by an anti-En antibody. A weak antibody-induced supershift is also observed. Moreover, this complex fails to form on the X5 mutant, which causes posterior compartment-specific de-repression. It is noted that En/Exd/Hth complexes also bind to the DMX-R and that it cannot be excluded that an En/Exd/Hth/AbdA complex may be important for Dll repression. The model emphasizes a role for an En/AbdA/Exd/Hth/AbdA complex because it better accommodates the cooperative binding observed between En and AbdA on the DMX-R (Gebelein, 2004).
Repression in the anterior compartments of the abdominal segments requires the sequence defined by the X2 mutation, which is similar to a Fkh domain consensus binding site. The model predicts that this sequence is bound by Slp. Consistent with this view, Slp1 binds weakly to wild type, but not to X2 mutant DMX-R probes. However, in contrast to En, no cooperative binding was observed between Slp and Hox or Hox/Exd/Hth/Hox complexes, suggesting that additional factors may be required to mediate interactions between Slp and the abdominal Hox factors (Gebelein, 2004).
Together, these results suggest that En and Slp play a direct role in DMX-lacZ and Dll repression. However, these experiments do not unambiguously determine the stoichiometry of binding by these factors. Furthermore, in vivo, additional factors may enhance the interaction between these segmentation proteins and Hox complexes, thereby increasing the stability and/or activity of the repression complexes (Gebelein, 2004).
The model for Dll repression is supported by previous genetic experiments that examined the effect of Ubx and abdA mutants on Dll expression in the abdomen. Ubx abdA double mutants de-repress Dll in both compartments of all abdominal segments. In contrast, Ubx mutants de-repress Dll in the anterior compartment of only the first abdominal segment, which lacks AbdA. abdA mutant embryos de-repress Dll in the posterior compartments of all abdominal segments, where Ubx levels are low (Gebelein, 2004).
Several genetic experiments were performed to provide in vivo support for the idea that Slp and En work directly with Ubx and AbdA to repress Dll. The design of these experiments had to take into consideration that the activation of Dll in the thorax depends on wg, and that wg expression depends on both slp and en. Consequently, Dll expression is mostly absent in en or slp mutants, making it impossible to characterize the role that these genes play in Dll repression from examining en or slp loss-of-function mutants. However, some of the mutant DMX-Rs described here provide the opportunity to test the model in alternative ways (Gebelein, 2004).
According to the model, DMX[X5]-lacZ is de-repressed in the posterior compartments of the abdominal segments because it fails to assemble the posterior, En-containing complex. Repression of DMX[X5]-lacZ in the anterior compartments still occurs because it is able to assemble the anterior, Slp-containing complex. According to this model, DMX[X5]-lacZ should be fully repressed if Slp is provided in posterior cells. A negative control for this experiment is that ectopic Slp should be unable to repress DMX[X2]-lacZ because this reporter gene does not have a functional Slp binding site. To mis-express Slp, paired-Gal4 (prd-Gal4), which overlaps both the Slp and En stripes in the odd-numbered abdominal segments, was used. As predicted, ectopic Slp repressed DMX[X5]-lacZ but not DMX[X2]-lacZ, providing strong in vivo support for Slp's direct role in Dll repression in the anterior compartments (Gebelein, 2004).
Conversely, the model posits that DMX[X2]-lacZ is de-repressed in the anterior compartment because it cannot bind Slp, but remains repressed in the posterior compartment because it is able to assemble the En-containing posterior complex. Thus, providing En in the anterior compartment should repress DMX[X2]-lacZ. A complication with this experiment is that En is a repressor of Ubx, which is the predominant abdominal Hox protein in the anterior compartment. It was confirmed that prd-Gal4-driven expression of En represses Ubx and that AbdA levels remain low at the time Dll is activated in the thorax. Consequently, ectopic En expression is not sufficient to repress DMX[X2]-lacZ, consistent with the observation that low levels of abdominal Hox proteins are present. Therefore, to promote the assembly of the posterior complex in anterior cells, En was co-expressed with AbdA using prd-Gal4. As predicted, this combination of factors repressed DMX[X2]-lacZ but not DMX[X5]-lacZ, providing strong in vivo evidence for En playing an essential role in Dll repression in the posterior compartments (Gebelein, 2004).
Several observations provide additional support for the model. First, ectopic expression of AbdA or Ubx in the second thoracic segment (T2) represses DMX[X5]-lacZ in the anterior compartment, but not in the posterior compartment. Conversely, expression of AbdA or Ubx in T2 represses DMX[X2]-lacZ only in posterior compartment cells. Second, co-expression of Slp with Ubx completely represses DMX[X5]-lacZ in T2 but does not repress DMX[X2]-lacZ in T2. Third, in those cases where repression is incomplete (for example, En + AbdA repression of DMX[X2]-lacZ in the abdomen), cells that escape repression have low levels of either an abdominal Hox protein or Slp/En. Together, these data provide additional evidence that the abdominal Hox proteins work together with Slp and En to repress Dll (Gebelein, 2004).
The segregation of cells into anterior and posterior compartments during Drosophila embryogenesis is essential for many aspects of fly development. The results presented in this study reveal an unanticipated intersection between anterior–posterior compartmentalization by segmentation genes and segment identity specification by Hox genes. Specifically, it is suggested that the abdominal Hox proteins collaborate with two different segmentation proteins, Slp and En, to mediate repression of a Hox target gene (Dll) in the anterior and posterior compartments of the abdomen, respectively. This mechanism of transcriptional repression suggests a previously unknown use of compartments in Drosophila development. The mechanism proposed here contrasts with the alternative and simpler hypothesis in which the abdominal Hox proteins would have used the same set of cofactors to repress Dll in all abdominal cells, regardless of their compartmental origin (Gebelein, 2004).
These results provide further support for the view that Hox/Exd/Hth complexes do not directly bind co-activators or co-repressors but instead indirectly recruit them to regulatory elements. Consistent with previous analyses, it is suggested that Hox/Exd/Hth complexes are important for the Hox specificity of target gene selection. Additional factors, such as Slp or En in the case of Dll repression, are required to determine whether the target gene will be repressed or activated. In the future, it will be important to dissect in similar detail other Hox-regulated elements, to assess the generality of this mechanism (Gebelein, 2004).
These results also broaden the spectrum of cofactors used by Hox proteins to regulate gene expression. Although the analysis of Exd/Hth in Drosophila and Pbx/Meis in vertebrates has provided some insights into how Hox specificity is achieved, there are examples of tissues in which these proteins are not available to be Hox cofactors and of Hox targets in which Exd and Hth seem not to play a direct role. This study shows that En, a homeodomain segmentation protein, is used as a Hox cofactor to repress Dll in the abdomen. Although the complex defined at the DMX-R includes Exd and Hth, the DNA binding studies demonstrate that Hox and En proteins can bind cooperatively to DNA in the absence of Exd and Hth. These findings suggest that En may function with Ubx and/or AbdA to regulate target genes other than Dll, and perhaps independently of Exd and Hth. Consistent with this idea are genetic experiments showing that, in the absence of Exd, En can repress slp and this repression requires abdominal Hox activity. Although these experiments were unable to distinguish whether the Hox input was direct or indirect, the results suggest that En may bind directly with Ubx and AbdA to repress slp, and perhaps other target genes (Gebelein, 2004).
Finally, these results raise the question of why a compartment-specific mechanism is used by Hox factors to repress Dll. The activation of Dll at the compartment boundary by wg may be important for accurately positioning the leg primordia within each thoracic hemisegment, but this mode of activation requires that Dll is repressed in both compartments in each abdominal segment. The utilization of segmentation proteins such as En and Slp may be the simplest solution to this problem. Compartment-specific mechanisms may also provide additional flexibility in the regulation of target genes by Hox proteins by allowing them to turn genes on or off specifically in anterior or posterior cell types. For these reasons, compartment-dependent mechanisms of gene regulation may turn out to be the general rule instead of the exception (Gebelein, 2004).
decapentaplegic is a direct target of Ultrabithorax (Ubx) in parasegment 7 (PS7) of the embryonic visceral mesoderm. This study demonstrates that extradenticle (exd) and homothorax (hth) are also required for dpp expression in this location, as well as in PS3, at the site of the developing gastric caecae. A 420 bp element from dpp contains Exd binding sites necessary for expressing a reporter gene in both these locations. Using a specificity swap, Exd was demonstrated to directly activate this element in vivo. Activation does not require Ubx, demonstrating that Exd can activate transcription independently of homeotic proteins. Restoration is restricted to the domains of endogenous dpp expression, despite ubiquitous expression of altered specificity Exd. Nuclear Exd is more extensively phosphorylated than the cytoplasmic form, suggesting that Exd is a target of signal transduction by protein kinases (Stultz, 2006).
Previous studies (Sun, 1995) demonstrated that Ubx directly regulates dpp in PS7 of the VM using a specificity swap strategy. Subsets of six Ubx binding sites were mutated in a 420 bp reporter construct (PX) from binding sites for Q50 homeodomains to binding sites for K50 homeodomains. For example, the wild-type UBX site 5/EXD site e2 was AGGCCTATCAATTAGCACC (with the EXD site underlined) and the mutant UBX site 5/EXD site e2 was AGGCCTAGGGATTAGCACC. It was then possible to restore the expression of these constructs by changing Q50 to K50 in the Ubx protein (called Ubx K50). However, it was not possible to restore expression of a reporter in which all six Ubx sites were altered. This suggested that an additional factor was required, and it was noted that the alterations in the fully substituted PX reporter also disrupted closely apposed Exd binding sites, suggesting that Ubx and EXD may co-regulate dpp (Stultz, 2006).
In previous work (Sun, 1995), it was not possible to restore expression of the fully substituted PX4–9 reporter using Ubx K50. This study shows that ubiquitous and simultaneous induction of Ubx K50 and Exd K50 restores expression of PX4–9 in a manner that is similar to wild-type PX. Induction of Exd K50 alone also restores PX4–9 in these domains but changes the balance of staining intensity between them, with PS7 expression appearing less prominent. This reflects a sufficiency of Exd K50 for activation of gene expression at both sites, but with an additional requirement for Ubx K50 to achieve wild-type levels in PS7. These experiments identify Exd as a direct activator of dpp's VM expression in both PS3 and PS7 (Stultz, 2006).
No HOX proteins are expressed in PS3. Thus, Exd K50 activates gene expression independently of HOX family proteins in this location. In cases where Ubx K50 restored partially substituted PX constructs, restoration was never seen in PS3 (Sun, 1995), further indicating that dpp expression here does not require HOX proteins. In addition, in PS7, where it is clearly established that Ubx contributes to activation of dpp expression, the results demonstrate that Ubx is not absolutely required for Exd K50 to activate transcription. Ubx increases the level of dpp expression, as demonstrated by the reduced PS7 expression in Exd K50-alone restorations, but is not required for Exd function. This point is further reinforced by the ability of Exd K50 to activate PX4–9 gene expression, even in Ubx homozygous mutants. On simple Exd binding sites, PBX proteins have not demonstrated transcriptional activation, but the data suggest that Exd can participate in gene activation without a HOX gene. Other unidentified factors in PS3 or PS7 could also be involved, and one candidate would be HTH, which is genetically required for dpp's VM expression and capable of binding to the PX element in concert with Exd. Genetic evidence for the ability of Exd/HTH to act in the absence of HOX proteins has been steadily accumulating, based on mutant phenotypes that cannot be attributed to HOX genes, and both genetic and in vitro data suggest that HTH/MEIS may have transcriptional activation capabilities (Stultz, 2006).
Two models for the role of Exd in regulating HOX targets have been proposed. The data indicate that the PX element is directly regulated by both Exd and Ubx, allowing evaluation of these two models based on the results. The 'co-selective binding' model proposes that Exd enhances the specificity and affinity of its HOX partner for a DNA binding site. This model requires that Exd and HOX proteins bind cooperatively as heterodimers to closely spaced Exd and HOX binding sites. This model predicts that the relative spacing and orientation of PBX/Exd and HOX binding sites must be tightly constrained, as has been shown by in vitro studies. Although the dpp cis-regulatory PX element contains multiple Ubx and Exd sites identified by DNA footprinting (Sun, 1995), only site e2 resembles the optimal site for binding by a PBX1/HOXB7 heterodimer. Even this site is not a perfect match, and data indicate that this site may be more likely to bind Exd/HTH in vivo. The electrophoretic mobility shift data demonstrate that Exd K50 can bind TAATCCC sites (the optimal site for HOX K50) that replace Ubx sites, as well as unaltered Exd sites. Thus, Exd K50 restores PX4–9 by binding to some or all of these sites. This demonstrates that an Exd protein altered only in its binding specificity can act in vivo through sites of altered spacing and orientation and is not necessarily constrained to act in close proximity to a HOX protein (Stultz, 2006).
The second model, 'widespread binding', proposes that Exd determines the outcome of HOX protein action. According to this model, either Exd or HOX proteins in isolation can bind DNA and act as transcriptional repressors. When both proteins are present, a complex that activates transcription is formed. For Deformed, Exd activates an otherwise silent transcriptional activation domain within the Deformed protein. The physical association between the proteins stabilizes their binding to DNA, but they do not have to bind as heterodimers. This model is more consistent with both the spacing of Exd and HOX sites in the dpp PX element and the apparent flexibility in the location of Exd-responsive sites observed in the experiments. However, this model predicts that independent Exd action is repressive, based on a Deformed-responsive target. In contrast, the data indicate that Exd can also activate reporter gene expression without a HOX partner, suggesting that repression is not the default action of Exd in the absence of HOX proteins (Stultz, 2006).
This study has shown that Exd is a direct activator of dpp expression in the VM. In PS3, the normal action of Exd does not require input from any homeotic protein. In PS7, input from Ubx is critical to achieving the correct level of gene expression, but the data do not support a model where Ubx is absolutely necessary for transcriptional activation. The data suggest that Exd can activate transcription in the absence of HOX proteins but that, in many cases, it also collaborates with HOX proteins, allowing the complex to achieve a more robust level of transcriptional activation. The current notion is that Exd is an essential cofactor for homeotic proteins. An equally tenable model for gene activation is that HOX proteins are the cofactors of Exd, imparting additional spatial regulation, site specificity, and activity to this transcriptional regulator (Stultz, 2006).
The striking restriction of reporter restoration to domains influenced by kinase-mediated signaling pathways led to an examination Exd protein for evidence of phosphorylation. The primary sequence of Exd contains more than 15 potential sites for various protein kinases, including Protein Kinase A (PKA) and Casein Kinase II upstream of its NLS. Protein kinase action is required for gene activation by PBX proteins in tissue culture cells, PKA converts HOX/PBX complexes from repressors to activators on the Hoxb1 autoregulatory element, and phosphorylation by PKA induces nuclear import of PBX1 independently of the PBX/MEIS nuclear localization mechanism. While it was not possible to establish a connection between DPP signaling and Exd phosphorylation, nonetheless, Exd clearly exists in multiple phosphoprotein forms, and the increased phosphorylation is clearly correlated to subcellular localization in Drosophila as well. Thus, Exd must be a target of kinase action, although whether this activity is solely required for nuclear translocation or for activity once in the nucleus is unresolved (Stultz, 2006).
dpp requires both its own expression and that of wg to achieve normal gene expression in the VM. These data led to a hypothesis that the spatial restriction observed in the restoration must be connected to DPP or WG signaling. However, the data do not support this hypothesis, and it is more likely that the major inputs generating dpp's localization in the VM are repressive in nature. In previous work, it was postulated that dpp's spatial regulation in the VM was the result of dual modes of regulation involving both general activation and spatially specific repression and spatially restricted activation (Sun, 1995 To this model of multiple general activators and spatially specific repressors is added the spatially localized strong activator Ubx. Ubx directly regulates dpp and may also have indirect inputs to dpp's PS7 gene expression, as the reduced restoration in Ubx9.22 null embryos indicates. Ubx is itself repressed via chromatin factors such as Polycomb and osa in the anterior midgut and Abd-A posterior to PS7. dpp autoregulation provides additional weak activation via inputs from SMAD proteins and through DPP-mediated schnurri repression of the repressor brinker. Thus, dpp expression is the cumulative result of general activation constrained by spatially specific repression and augmented by spatially specific activation. Clearly, evolution has deemed the formation of the embryonic midgut of sufficient importance to create a highly buffered, reinforced system of gene expression (Stultz, 2006).
The transformation of antenna to leg is a classical model for understanding segmental fate decisions in Drosophila. The spineless (ss) gene encodes a bHLH-PAS transcription factor that plays a key role in specifying the identity of distal antennal segments. This report identifies the antennal disc enhancer of ss and then uses enhancer-lacZ reporters to work out how ss antennal expression is regulated. The antennal determinants Distal-less (Dll) and homothorax (hth) are key activators of the antennal enhancer. Dll is required continuously and, when present at elevated levels, can activate the enhancer in regions devoid of hth expression. In contrast, homothorax (hth) is required only transiently both for activation of the enhancer and for specification of the aristal portion of the antenna. The antennal enhancer is repressed by cut, which determines its proximal limit of expression, and by ectopic Antennapedia (Antp). Repression by Antp is not mediated by hth, suggesting that ss may be a direct target of Antp. ss+ is not a purely passive target of its regulators: ss+ partially represses hth in the third antennal segment and lies upstream of Dll in the development of the maxillary palp primordia (Emmons, 2007; full text of article).
This study used lacZ reporters to identify the enhancers responsible for most aspects of ss expression during embryonic and imaginal development. Antennal expression is driven by two large fragments from the ss 5' region, B6.9 and EX8.2. Both of these fragments drive expression in the antennal segment of the embryo and in the distal portion of the pupal antenna. B6.9 is also expressed in the antennal disc through most or all larval development. Dissection of B6.9 allowed localization of the larval antennal enhancer to a fragment of 522 bp. The B6.9 and 522 reporters were used as a proxy for ss expression in experiments to determine the effects of potential upstream regulators of ss. This strategy has its strengths and weaknesses, but has been made necessary by an inability to generate antisera against Ss. A major strength of the approach is that it was possible to assess the effects of regulators on individual enhancers. It is likely that monitoring endogenous ss expression would give results that are less clear cut since both the antennal and tarsal enhancers of ss are active within the antenna. A potential weakness is that the reporters may not faithfully reproduce the normal expression of ss. However, as far as is possible to tell, the antennal reporters reproduce ss expression very well. The expression of B6.9 and EX8.2 in the embryonic antennal segment and the pupal antenna corresponds very closely to that of endogenous ss. Expression of B6.9 and 522 in the larval antennal disc appears very similar or identical to that of ss+, and the transient requirement for hth+ in the activation of these reporters corresponds well to the transient requirement for hth+ in aristal specification. The tarsal enhancer P732 likely also reproduces the spatial pattern of ss+ expression as its tarsal expression domain corresponds well to the region deleted in ss− mutants (Emmons, 2007).
The results of this dissection of the B6.9 fragment were surprising. Removal of the left-hand 2 kb of B6.9 to produce S4.9 resulted in the loss of antennal specificity; S4.9 reporters are expressed in both antennal and leg discs. The E2.0 subfragment of S4.9 shows a similar expression pattern, and expression of this fragment in both leg and antennal discs is independent of Hth, but requires Dll continuously. On further subdivision of the E2.0 fragment, it was found that antennal and leg expression are separable; the 522 fragment is largely specific for the antenna, whereas the 531 fragment drives expression primarily in leg discs. To summarize, antennal specificity is present in B6.9, lost in S4.9 and E2.0 and regained in 522. How can sense be made of this? The region deleted from B6.9 to produce S4.9 clearly plays an important role in enforcing antennal specificity. Since this region contains a PRE, one might suspect that it functions in larval stages to maintain repression of the enhancer outside of the antennal segment. However, that the E2.0 fragment has lost the requirement for Hth in both the antenna and leg (S4.9 has not been tested) suggests that the PRE-containing region might function in both locations. One possibility is that this region represses the enhancer in both antennal and leg discs. In the antenna, this repression can be overcome by the combined action of Hth and Dll, while in the leg Dll alone is not sufficient for activation. When the PRE-containing region is deleted, repression is absent or reduced, so that Dll can activate the enhancer without assistance from Hth, and expression is seen in both antennal and leg discs. Why then is antennal specificity restored in the 522 subfragment? Perhaps this fragment is lacking a subset of Dll interaction sites so that it can no longer be activated by Dll alone, but requires combined activation by Hth and Dll. Although this model is consistent with many of the results, it does not provide a ready explanation for the leg specificity of the 531 fragment (Emmons, 2007).
In addition to activation by combined Hth and Dll, the ss antennal disc enhancer is repressed by Cut and by ectopic Antp. Each of these regulators will be discussed separately. It was found that hth+ is required only transiently for activation of the B6.9 reporter. hth− clones induced in the embryo or first instar lose expression of B6.9 autonomously in both A3 and the aristal primordia. However, some time in the second of early third instar. Regulatory instar expression of B6.9 becomes independent of hth. Consistent with this transient requirement, it is shown that hth+ is required only early in larval development for specification of the arista. hth− clones induced in the first and second instars show a transformation of the entire antenna to a leg-like appendage. However, clones induced after this time show normal aristal development. These temporal requirements are reflected in the expression pattern of hth: hth is expressed throughout the antennal primordium early in development, but in the second or early third instar is repressed in the central domain, which will produce the arista (Emmons, 2007).
The stable activation of B6.9 by Hth suggests that this fragment contains a 'cellular memory module'. The presence of a PRE within B6.9 is consistent with this idea. The ss locus binds Polycomb protein in salivary gland chromosomes and was recently shown to contain PREs by chromatin immunoprecipitation. In the latter work, ss PREs were localized to within the E1.6 subfragment of B6.9 as well as the EX8.2 fragment, both of which showed pairing dependent suppression in this work. PREs are generally thought of as functioning to stably repress genes. However, PREs can also be associated with activating elements to form memory modules that mediate stable activation. It seems likely that B6.9 contains such a module that responds to Hth. Like a memory module from the hedgehog gene, activity of the ss module is set sometime around the second instar. Surprisingly, it was found that activation of the 522 reporter by Hth can also be persistent, although not as stable as for B6.9. The 522 fragment does not appear to contain a PRE, suggesting that Hth may directly recruit factors to the 522 element that cause semi-stable transcriptional activation (Emmons, 2007).
ss is not a completely passive target of hth; ss partially represses hth in antennal discs, which causes hth to be expressed at a lower level in A3 than in A2. This repression appears to be important for normal development as ectopic expression of Hth can delete A3. Moreover, clones ectopically expressing Hth are largely blocked from entering A3 from the proximal (A2) side, suggesting that the different levels of Hth present in A2 and A3 cause a difference in cell affinities between these segments. Hth-expressing clones are similarly restricted to the two most proximal segments in leg discs, although here there is no endogenous expression of hth more distally (Emmons, 2007).
In contrast to hth, Dll is required continuously for expression of both B6.9 and 522 as Dll− clones induced even very late in development lose expression of these reporters. This continuous requirement for Dll indicates that stable activation of the B6.9 memory module by Hth does not by itself commit the reporter to expression; rather, activation by Hth appears to render B6.9 open to interaction with Dll and perhaps other positive factors (Emmons, 2007).
Three lines of evidence suggest that Dll is the primary activator of the ss antennal enhancer. (1) It was found that expression of B6.9 and 522 is sensitive to the dosage of Dll+. Expression of both reporters is reduced in animals carrying only one dose of Dll+, and for 522, expression is enhanced in clones having extra doses of Dll+. This dose sensitivity suggests that ss is a direct target of Dll. (2) It was found that expression of both reporters is often induced within clones expressing ectopic Dll, even in the apparent absence of Hth expression. Such activation is seen in clones in the distal leg, wing and elsewhere. (3) It was found that the embryonic antennal enhancer carried by B6.9 is absolutely dependent upon Dll+, but independent of hth. Taken together, these observations suggest that Dll is a primary activator of the ss antennal enhancers. Hth may provide antennal specificity by boosting the level of activation by Dll in the antennal disc (Emmons, 2007).
Surprisingly, it was found that the regulatory relationship between ss and Dll is reversed in the maxillary palp. Here, ss is expressed prior to Dll and is required for the normal initiation of Dll expression. Although some Dll expression ultimately takes place in the palp primordium in ss− animals, this expression is weak and occurs in only a few cells. It has not been worked out how ss is activated in the palp. However, it seems likely that dpp plays a role as the 531 subfragment of B6.9 drives expression in a stripe in the region of the palp that roughly coincides with a stripe of dpp expression. The positioning of ss upstream of Dll in the palp may explain why the region ventral to the antenna is so sensitive to ectopic expression of Ss. Strong activation of Dll here by ectopic Ss combined with endogenous expression of hth might be expected to cause frequent induction of ectopic antennae, as is observed. Since ss is normally expressed in the palp, why should earlier ectopic Ss cause the palp primordium to develop as antenna? It seems likely that timing is key, but level of Ss expression could also be important (Emmons, 2007).
The reciprocal regulatory roles of ss and Dll in the antenna and palp suggest a particularly close relationship between these genes. This relationship is reinforced by the finding that ss is required for the development of bracts in the femur, as is Dll (Emmons, 2007).
The finding that Dll and Hth are both activators of the ss antennal reporters is consistent with the proposal that antennal identity is defined by the combined activity of these regulators. However, the results indicate that this model is an oversimplification. Examination of clones expressing Dll, Hth, or both proteins together revealed little correlation between activation of the B6.9 and 522 antennal reporters and combined expression of Dll and Hth. Strikingly, Dll-expressing clones often activate the reporters ectopically without any apparent concomitant expression of Hth, and clones expressing both proteins usually do not activate the reporters. These experiments also reveal strong context dependence. Examples include the leg, where Dll-expressing clones can activate the reporters distally, but not proximally (where endogenous hth expression occurs) and the wing disc, where clones expressing Dll or both Dll and Hth activate the reporters in the wing pouch, but not at all in the notum. The level of expression of both proteins also appears to be key as high levels of Dll can activate the reporters in the leg in the absence of Hth and elevated levels of Hth can repress expression in the normal antennal domain. Previous results have shown that antennal structures can be induced by ectopic expression of Dll in the wing hinge region or proximal leg (which express hth endogenously) or by combined expression of Dll and Hth elsewhere. While this is true, the results indicate highly variable effects in such ectopic expression experiments and fail to detect the strongly synergistic activation of antennal identity by combined Hth and Dll implied by the model. The results indicate that Dll is the primary activator of the ss antennal reporters, that Hth serves to promote this activity and that activation by Dll and Hth is highly context-dependent (Emmons, 2007).
Consistent with direct control of the antennal reporters by Dll and Hth, two highly conserved regions within the 522 fragment contain apparent binding sites for Dll, Hth, and the Hth dimerization partner Extradenticle. The functional importance of these binding sites is currently being tested (Emmons, 2007).
This study has show that the proximal boundary of B6.9 and 522 expression is defined by repression by cut. This repression likely explains why ectopic Cut causes a transformation of arista to tarsus. cut has been shown to define the proximal expression limit of distal antenna (dan) and distal antenna related (danr); since ss lies upstream of these genes, it seems very likely that their regulation by cut is indirect. The mechanism of action of Cut is not well understood, since only one direct target has been characterized in Drosophila (Emmons, 2007).
Ectopic expression of Antp in the antenna represses the B6.9 and 522 reporters. This finding was expected, since it is well known that expression of Antp or other Hox genes in the antenna causes a transformation to leg. The conventional view is that this transformation results from the repression of hth by ectopic Hox proteins. Repression of hth early in development would be expected to lead secondarily to loss of ss expression and loss of distal antennal identity. However, it was found that clones expressing Antp repress the B6.9 and 522 reporters even when these clones are induced very late in development, long after the requirement for activation by hth has passed. Late repression of the antennal reporters by Antp must therefore occur independently of hth and could be direct. One possibility, currently being tested, is that Antp might compete with Dll for binding to the 522 enhancer. Late repression of the ss antennal enhancer by Antp is consistent with the effects of Antp-expressing clones on antennal identity: such clones induced in the mid to late third instar cause transformations of distal antenna to leg (Emmons, 2007).
Clones induced late that ectopically express Antp in a sustained fashion were examined. In contrast, previous work studied the effects of pulses of Antp expression induced by one-hour heat shocks in a heat shock/Antp line. It had been found that transformations of arista to tarsus were induced by such pulses only when they were administered at the end of the second instar. Why do pulses of Antp at this time cause a stable, heritable transformation of the distal antenna? The current results suggest an explanation. The period sensitive to Antp pulses coincides roughly with when the ss antennal enhancer becomes independent of hth. This correlation suggests that pulses of Antp in the second instar cause heritable transformations by interfering with the stable activation of ss by Hth. Recently, it has been reported that ectopic Antp does not repress hth in the antenna early in larval development. This observation suggests that Antp might act directly on the ss antennal enhancer to prevent its stable activation by Hth (Emmons, 2007).
The regulation of ss by ectopic Antp suggests that Antp may normally play a significant role in repressing ss antennal enhancer activity in the legs. Although this idea has not been tested directly, it seems unlikely that Antp is primarily responsible for keeping the ss antennal enhancers inactive in the leg. Antp null clones do cause activation of the ss target gene dan in leg discs, implying ectopic activation of ss. However, this activation occurs only proximally, with the distal leg appearing to develop independently of Antp. Expression of Antp in the proximal leg may account for why Dll-expressing clones fail to activate B6.9 or 522 in this location. Ectopic activation of the ss antennal enhancers in the leg primordia of the embryo is not seen in an Antp null mutant (Emmons, 2007).
These studies suggest that antennal structures are specified in a combinatorial fashion by Hth, Dll, Ss and probably other factors. In A3, all three proteins are required for normal antennal identity. In ss− antennae, hth continues to be expressed in A3 (although at el