Stern C D, Vasiliauskas D
Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Bioessays. 1998 Jul;20(7):528-31. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1521-1878(199807)20:7<528::AID-BIES2>3.0.CO;2-G.
A recent paper describes a striking expression pattern during somite formation for a chick ortholog of the fly hairy gene. Before segmentation, c-hairy1 mRNA oscillates in the presomitic mesoderm such that three distinct spatial patterns are seen. The authors use a series of ingenious manipulations to show that these phases follow each other in time, adding up to a 90-minute periodicity in c-hairy1 expression. The discovery of this clock of gene expression emphasizes the importance of temporally regulated events in the establishment of spatial patterns.
最近一篇论文描述了果蝇hairy基因的鸡直系同源基因在体节形成过程中一种显著的表达模式。在分节之前，c-hairy1 mRNA在前体中胚层中振荡，从而呈现出三种不同的空间模式。作者运用了一系列巧妙的操作来表明这些阶段在时间上依次出现，c-hairy1表达的周期性总计为90分钟。这种基因表达时钟的发现强调了时间调控事件在空间模式建立中的重要性。
