Cohen B, McGuffin M E, Pfeifle C, Segal D, Cohen S M
Department of Cell Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030.
Genes Dev. 1992 May;6(5):715-29. doi: 10.1101/gad.6.5.715.
The apterous (ap) gene is required for the normal development of the wing and haltere imaginal discs in Drosophila melanogaster. ap encodes a new member of the LIM family of developmental regulatory genes. The deduced amino acid sequence of ap predicts a homeo domain and a cysteine/histidine-rich domain known as the LIM domain. In these domains ap is highly similar to the mec-3 and lin-11 proteins of Caenorhabditis elegans and to the vertebrate insulin enhancer-binding protein isl-1. ap is presumably required for transcriptional regulation of genes involved in wing and haltere development. The nature of the defects in homozygous null mutant flies is consistent with the pattern of ap expression in the larval imaginal discs. ap is also expressed in a complex pattern in the embryo, including portions of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and central nervous system (CNS). A requirement for ap expression in the larval and adult CNS may be the underlying cause of the defects in hormone production and vitellogenesis described for ap mutations.
无翅（ap）基因对于黑腹果蝇翅和平衡棒成虫盘的正常发育是必需的。ap编码发育调控基因LIM家族的一个新成员。ap推导的氨基酸序列预测有一个同源结构域和一个富含半胱氨酸/组氨酸的结构域，即LIM结构域。在这些结构域中，ap与秀丽隐杆线虫的mec-3和lin-11蛋白以及脊椎动物胰岛素增强子结合蛋白isl-1高度相似。ap可能是翅和平衡棒发育相关基因转录调控所必需的。纯合无效突变果蝇的缺陷性质与ap在幼虫成虫盘中的表达模式一致。ap在胚胎中也以复杂的模式表达，包括部分外周神经系统（PNS）和中枢神经系统（CNS）。幼虫和成虫CNS中ap表达的需求可能是ap突变所描述的激素产生和卵黄发生缺陷的潜在原因。
