Chou TB, Noll E, Perrimon N.
Autosomal P[ovoD1] dominant female-sterile insertions in Drosophila and their use in generating germ-line chimeras. Development. 1993;119 (4) :1359-69.
Abstract
The 'dominant female-sterile' technique used to generate germ-line mosaics in Drosophila is a powerful tool to determine the tissue specificity (germ line versus somatic) of recessive female-sterile mutations as well as to analyze the maternal effect of recessive zygotic lethal mutations. This technique requires the availability of germ-line-dependent, dominant female-sterile (DFS) mutations that block egg laying but do not affect viability. To date only one X-linked mutation, ovoD1 has been isolated that completely fulfills these criteria. Thus the 'DFS technique' has been largely limited to the X-chromosome. To extend this technique to the autosomes, we have cloned the ovoD1 mutation into a P-element vector and recovered fully expressed P[ovoD1] insertions on each autosomal arm. We describe the generation of these P[ovoD1] strains as well as demonstrate their use in generating germ-line chimeras. Specifically, we show that the Gap1 gene, which encodes a Drosophila homologue of mammalian GTPase-activating protein, is required in somatic follicle cells for embryonic dorsoventral polarity determination.
1993_Dev_Chou.pdf Lu X, Chou TB, Williams NG, Roberts T, Perrimon N.
Control of cell fate determination by p21ras/Ras1, an essential component of torso signaling in Drosophila. Genes Dev. 1993;7 (4) :621-32.
Abstract
Determination of cell fate at the posterior termini of the Drosophila embryo is specified by the activation of the torso (tor) receptor tyrosine kinase. This signaling pathway is mediated by the serine/threonine kinase D-raf and a protein tyrosine phosphatase corkscrew (csw). We found that expression of an activated form of Ras1 during oogenesis resulted in embryos with tor gain-of-function phenotypes. To demonstrate that p21ras/Ras1 mediates tor signaling, we injected mammalian p21ras variants into early Drosophila embryos. We found that the injection of activated p21v-ras rescued the maternal-effect phenotypes of both tor and csw null mutations. These rescuing effects of p21v-ras are dependent on the presence of maternally derived D-raf activity. In addition, wild-type embryos show a terminal-class phenotype resembling csw when injected with p21rasN17, a dominant-negative form of p21ras. Furthermore, we have analyzed the maternal-effect phenotype of Son of sevenless (Sos), a positive regulator of Ras1, and showed that embryos derived from germ cells lacking Sos+ activity exhibit a terminal-class phenotype. Our study demonstrates that the Drosophila p21ras, encoded by Ras1, is an intrinsic component of the tor signaling pathway, where it is both necessary and sufficient in specifying posterior terminal cell fates. p21ras/Ras1 operates upstream of the D-raf kinase in this signaling pathway.
1993_Genes Dev_Lu.pdf Melnick MB, Perkins LA, Lee M, Ambrosio L, Perrimon N.
Developmental and molecular characterization of mutations in the Drosophila-raf serine/threonine protein kinase. Development. 1993;118 (1) :127-38.
Abstract
Formation of the tail region of the Drosophila larva requires the activities of the terminal class genes. Genetic and molecular analyses of these genes suggests that localized activation of the receptor tyrosine kinase torso at the posterior egg pole triggers a signal transduction pathway. This pathway, mediated through the serine/threonine protein kinase D-raf and the protein tyrosine phosphatase corkscrew, controls the domains of expression of the transcription factors tailless and huckebein. In this paper, we report the molecular and developmental characterization of mutations in the D-raf gene. We show that mutations that alter conserved residues known to be necessary for kinase activity are associated with a null phenotype, demonstrating that D-raf kinase activity is required for its role in torso signaling. Another mutation, D-rafPB26, which prematurely truncates the kinase domain shows a weaker maternal effect phenotype that is strikingly similar to the corkscrew maternal effect phenotype, suggesting that a lower amount of kinase activity decreases the terminal signaling pathway. Finally, molecular and developmental characterization of two mutations that affect the late D-raf zygotic function(s) implies a novel role for D-raf in cell fate establishment in the eye. One of these mutations, D-rafC110, is associated with a single amino acid change within the putative D-raf regulatory region, while the other, D-rafHM-7, most likely reduces the wild-type amount of D-raf protein.
1993_Dev_Melnick.pdf Melnick MB, Noll E, Perrimon N.
The Drosophila stubarista phenotype is associated with a dosage effect of the putative ribosome-associated protein D-p40 on spineless. Genetics. 1993;135 (2) :553-64.
Abstract
We describe the molecular characterization of the Drosophila melanogaster gene stubarista (sta) that encodes the highly conserved putative ribosome-associated protein D-p40. sta maps to cytological position 2A3-B2 on the X chromosome and encodes a protein (D-p40) of 270 amino acids. D-p40 shares 63% identity with the human p40 ribosomal protein. P element-mediated transformation of a 4.4-kb genomic fragment encompassing the 1-kb transcript corresponding to D-p40 was used to rescue both a lethal (sta2) and a viable (sta1) mutation at the stubarista (sta) locus. Developmental analysis of the sta2 mutation implicates a requirement for D-p40 during oogenesis and imaginal development, which is consistent with the expression of sta throughout development. In addition, we have analyzed the basis of the sta1 visible phenotype which consists of shortened antennae and bristles. sta1 is a translocation of the 1E1-2 to 2B3-4 region of the X chromosome onto the third chromosome at 89B21-C4. We provide genetic evidence that Dp(1;3)sta1 is mutant at the spineless (ss) locus and that it is associated with partial D-p40 activity. We demonstrate that sta1 acts as a recessive enhancer of ss; reduction in the amount of D-p40 provided by the transposed X chromosomal region of sta1 reveals a haplo-insufficient phenotype of the otherwise recessive ss mutations. This phenomenon is reminiscent of the enhancing effect observed with Minute mutations, one of which, rp49, has previously been shown to encode a ribosomal protein.
1993_Genetics_Melnick.pdf van den Heuvel M, Harryman-Samos C, Klingensmith J, Perrimon N, Nusse R.
Mutations in the segment polarity genes wingless and porcupine impair secretion of the wingless protein. EMBO J. 1993;12 (13) :5293-302.
Abstract
We have characterized the molecular nature of mutations in wingless (wg), a segment polarity gene acting during various stages of Drosophila development. Embryo-lethal alleles have undergone mutations in the protein-encoding domain of the gene, including deletions and point mutations of conserved residues. In a temperature sensitive mutation, a conserved cysteine residue is replaced by a serine. In embryo-viable alleles, the wg transcriptional unit is not affected. Immunostaining of mutant embryos shows that the embryo-lethal alleles produce either no wg antigen or a form of the protein that is retained within cells. Interestingly, embryos mutant for the segment polarity gene porcupine show a similar retention of the wg antigen. We have also transfected wild type wg alleles into Drosophila tissue culture cells, which then display wg protein on the cell surface and in the extracellular matrix. In similar experiments with mutant alleles, the proteins are retained in intracellular compartments and appear not to be secreted. These data provide further evidence that wg acts as a secreted factor and suggest that porcupine provides an accessory function for wg protein secretion or transport.
1993_EMBO_Van den Heuvel.pdf Erratum.pdf Harrison DA, Perrimon N.
Simple and efficient generation of marked clones in Drosophila. Curr Biol. 1993;3 (7) :424-33.
AbstractBACKGROUND: Cell lineage analysis and mosaic analysis of mutations are important techniques that are used to study the development of many organisms. Unfortunately, the methods employed for such analyses are usually inefficient, technically demanding or labor intensive. In Drosophila, the most common methodology used for the generation of mosaic animals is mitotic recombination, which is induced by X-rays. Although this technique is simple, it has the undesirable characteristics of a low efficiency and a high rate of cell death. Furthermore, although a large number of marker systems has been employed to detect mitotic recombinants, none allows easy identification of clones for all cell types. RESULTS: A system is described here that allows a highly efficient generation of clones with the concomitant expression of an easily detectable cellular marker. This method can be applied to cell lineage and mosaic analysis in Drosophila. The site-specific yeast FLP recombinase, under the control of a heat shock-inducible promoter, efficiently catalyses mitotic recombination specifically at the site of a FLP recombination target (FRT). In this system, recombination fuses the alpha-tubulin promoter to the lacZ gene, allowing transcription of the marker. Recombinant cells and their progeny can, therefore, be detected by standard assays for beta-galactosidase. Of particular importance is the fact that only the cells of interest stain, thus allowing their simple detection in any tissue. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate that, by intermolecular recombination, we can use FLIP recombinase to generate marked clones efficiently in embryonic, larval and adult tissues. This simple and efficient technique is well suited to cell-lineage analysis and can be easily extended to the generation and detection of mutant clones in mosaic animals.
1993_CurrBio_Harrison.pdf Brand AH, Perrimon N.
Targeted gene expression as a means of altering cell fates and generating dominant phenotypes. Development. 1993;118 (2) :401-15.
AbstractWe have designed a system for targeted gene expression that allows the selective activation of any cloned gene in a wide variety of tissue- and cell-specific patterns. The gene encoding the yeast transcriptional activator GAL4 is inserted randomly into the Drosophila genome to drive GAL4 expression from one of a diverse array of genomic enhancers. It is then possible to introduce a gene containing GAL4 binding sites within its promoter, to activate it in those cells where GAL4 is expressed, and to observe the effect of this directed misexpression on development. We have used GAL4-directed transcription to expand the domain of embryonic expression of the homeobox protein even-skipped. We show that even-skipped represses wingless and transforms cells that would normally secrete naked cuticle into denticle secreting cells. The GAL4 system can thus be used to study regulatory interactions during embryonic development. In adults, targeted expression can be used to generate dominant phenotypes for use in genetic screens. We have directed expression of an activated form of the Dras2 protein, resulting in dominant eye and wing defects that can be used in screens to identify other members of the Dras2 signal transduction pathway.
1993_Dev_Brand.pdf