Laugier Edith, Yang Zhaohai, Fasano Laurent, Kerridge Stephen, Vola Christine
IBDM, LGPD, UMR 6545, CNRS/INSERM/Université de la Méditerranée, Campus de Luniny, Case 907, Marseille, France.
Dev Biol. 2005 Jul 15;283(2):446-58. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2005.05.005.
The teashirt gene encodes a protein with three widely spaced zinc finger motifs that is crucial for specifying trunk identity in Drosophila embryos. Here, we describe a gene called tiptop, which encodes a protein highly similar to Teashirt. We have analyzed the expression patterns and functions of these two genes in the trunk of the embryo. Initially, teashirt and tiptop expressions are detected in distinct domains; teashirt in the trunk and tiptop in parts of the head and tail. In different mutant situations, we show that, in the trunk and head, they repress each other's expression. Unlike teashirt, we found that deletion of tiptop is homozygous viable and fertile. However, embryos lacking both gene activities display a more severe trunk phenotype than teashirt mutant embryos alone. Ectopic expression of either gene produces an almost identical phenotype, indicating that Teashirt and Tiptop have, on the whole, common activities. We conclude that Teashirt and Tiptop repress each other's expression and that Teashirt has a crucial role for trunk patterning that is in part masked by ectopic expression of Tiptop.
T恤衫基因编码一种具有三个间隔广泛的锌指基序的蛋白质，该蛋白质对于确定果蝇胚胎中的躯干身份至关重要。在这里，我们描述了一个名为顶尖的基因，它编码一种与T恤衫高度相似的蛋白质。我们分析了这两个基因在胚胎躯干中的表达模式和功能。最初，在不同区域检测到T恤衫和顶尖的表达；T恤衫在躯干中表达，而顶尖在头部和尾部的部分区域表达。在不同的突变情况下，我们发现，在躯干和头部，它们相互抑制对方的表达。与T恤衫不同，我们发现删除顶尖后纯合子可存活且可育。然而，缺乏这两种基因活性的胚胎表现出比单独的T恤衫突变胚胎更严重的躯干表型。任一基因的异位表达都会产生几乎相同的表型，这表明T恤衫和顶尖总体上具有共同的活性。我们得出结论，T恤衫和顶尖相互抑制对方的表达，并且T恤衫对躯干模式形成具有关键作用，而这种作用部分被顶尖的异位表达所掩盖。
