Wimmer E A, Frommer G, Purnell B A, Jäckle H
Abteilung Molekulare Entwicklungsbiologie, Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische Chemie, Göttingen, Germany.
Mech Dev. 1996 Sep;59(1):53-62. doi: 10.1016/0925-4773(96)00575-8.
The Drosophila gene buttonhead (btd) is a gap-like head segmentation gene which encodes a triple zinc finger protein structurally and functionally related to the human transcription factor Spl. Here we report the pattern of btd expression during embryogenesis. btd is not only expressed and required in the blastoderm anlagen of the antennal, intercalary and mandibular segments as reported previously, but both expression and requirement extend into the anlage of the maxillary segment. From gastrulation onwards, btd is expressed in distinct spatial and temporal patterns, suggesting that btd might be required for a number of developmental processes beyond head segmentation. In fact, analysis of btd mutant embryos revealed that btd participates in the formation of the peripheral nervous system. However, no other morphologically apparent phenotype was observed. We identified a btd-related gene, termed D-Sp1, which is expressed in temporal and spatial patterns similar to btd during postblastodermal development. No localized expression domains of D-Sp1, which is located in the same X-chromosomal band as btd, were seen during the blastoderm stage. The results suggest that D-Sp1 and btd represent a novel gene pair with partially redundant functions after the blastoderm stage.
果蝇基因纽扣头（btd）是一个类间隙头部节段基因，它编码一种与人类转录因子Spl在结构和功能上相关的三联锌指蛋白。在此我们报告btd在胚胎发育过程中的表达模式。正如之前所报道的，btd不仅在触角节、居间节和下颌节的胚盘原基中表达且发挥作用，而且其表达和作用还延伸至上颌节的原基。从原肠胚形成开始，btd以独特的时空模式表达，这表明btd可能在头部节段化之外的许多发育过程中发挥作用。事实上，对btd突变胚胎的分析表明，btd参与外周神经系统的形成。然而，未观察到其他形态上明显的表型。我们鉴定出一个与btd相关的基因，称为D-Sp1，它在胚盘后发育过程中的时空表达模式与btd相似。在胚盘阶段未观察到位于与btd相同X染色体带的D-Sp1的局部表达结构域。结果表明，D-Sp1和btd代表了胚盘阶段后具有部分冗余功能的一个新基因对。
