Blanco Jorge, Gehring Walter J
Department of Cell Biology, Biozentrum, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 70, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland.
Gene Expr Patterns. 2008 Sep;8(7-8):523-7. doi: 10.1016/j.gep.2008.06.002. Epub 2008 Jun 11.
The Drosophila Pax6 homolog twin of eyeless (toy) is so far the first zygotically expressed gene involved in eye morphogenesis in Drosophila. The study of its expression during embryogenesis is therefore informative of the initial events of eye development in Drosophila. We have analyzed how the initial expression domain of toy at cellular blastoderm is regulated. We show that the three maternal patterning systems active in the cephalic region (the anterior, terminal and dorsal-ventral systems) cooperate with zygotically activated gap genes to shape the initial expression domain of toy. Whereas Bicoid, Dorsal and Torso signaling synergistically act as activators, Hunchback, Knirps and Decapentaplegic act as repressors.
果蝇无眼同源蛋白眼无之双（toy）是迄今为止果蝇中第一个参与眼形态发生的合子表达基因。因此，对其在胚胎发育过程中表达的研究有助于了解果蝇眼发育的初始事件。我们分析了在细胞胚盘阶段toy的初始表达域是如何被调控的。我们发现，在头部区域活跃的三个母体模式形成系统（前部、末端和背腹系统）与合子激活的间隙基因协同作用，塑造了toy的初始表达域。其中，双尾、背腹信号和躯干信号协同作为激活因子，驼背、克尼普斯和五体不全信号则作为抑制因子。
