0000000000496583
AUTHOR
Mary K. Baylies
Serpent and a hibris reporter are co-expressed in migrating cells during Drosophila hematopoiesis and Malpighian tubule formation
Motile mesodermal cells contribute several cell types to developing embryos. In Drosophila, blood cell precursors or prohemocytes, are first detected in the procephalic mesoderm by the expression of the GATA transcription factor Serpent. Once specified, a subset of prohemocytes migrate posteriorly to populate most of the embryo and further differentiate as plasmatocytes. Similarly, Drosophila nephrogenesis involves integration of posterior mesodermal cells into the Malpighian tubule primordia where these cells differentiate as stellate cells. Here we investigated the possibility that the immunoglobulin-domain protein Hibris and the GATA factor Serpent were co-expressed in motile mesodermal …
The muscleblind gene participates in the organization of Z-bands and epidermal attachments of Drosophila muscles and is regulated by Dmef2.
We report the embryonic phenotype of muscleblind (mbl), a recently described Drosophila gene involved in terminal differentiation of adult ommatidia. mbl is a nuclear protein expressed late in the embryo in pharyngeal, visceral, and somatic muscles, the ventral nerve cord, and the larval photoreceptor system. All three mbl alleles studied exhibit a lethal phenotype and die as stage 17 embryos or first instar larvae. These larvae are partially paralyzed, show a characteristically contracted abdomen, and lack striation of muscles. Our analysis of the somatic musculature shows that the pattern of muscles is established correctly, and they form morphologically normal synapses. Ultrastructural a…
Causative role of oxidative stress in a Drosophila model of Friedreich ataxia
Friedreich ataxia (FA), the most common form of hereditary ataxia, is caused by a deficit in the mitochondrial protein frataxin. While several hypotheses have been suggested, frataxin function is not well understood. Oxidative stress has been suggested to play a role in the pathophysiology of FA, but this view has been recently questioned, and its link to frataxin is unclear. Here, we report the use of RNA interference (RNAi) to suppress the Drosophila frataxin gene (fh) expression. This model system parallels the situation in FA patients, namely a moderate systemic reduction of frataxin levels compatible with normal embryonic development. Under these conditions, fh-RNAi flies showed a shor…