Fig. 7. Temporal progression of Dll and dac expression during
leg development. (A-C) Expression of brk, Dll and
dac during leg development. The discs are not shown to scale. (A) At
60 hours AEL Dll (green) is present in the center of the disc where there
is no detectable Brk (red). In the ventral and lateral regions of the disc
(arrow), there is a sharp border that separates Dll and brk
expression. Wg (blue) is highest in the ventral region of the disc but is also
observed in Dll-expressing cells. (B) At about 72 hours AEL,
dac (blue) is broadly expressed in the dorsal part of the leg disc
where there is no brk (arrowhead) and in the lateral and ventral
regions where there are low levels of Brk (arrow). In the cells where
dac is activated, Dll is also expressed at low levels. The
' and '' panels show subsets of these expression patterns as
indicated. (C) At about 108 hours AEL, the expression of Dll and
dac overlaps with brk. At this time these genes are
refractory to Brk repression. (D) In the early second instar (left),
Dll is activated in the center of the disc where there is no Brk and
high Wg levels. In a late second instar disc (middle), dac is
activated: (1) in the dorsal region of the disc where there is no Brk and low
levels of Wg signaling (region 1); and (2) in lateral and ventral cells, where
there is high Wg signaling and low Brk (region 2). In late third instar
(right), Dll and dac expression is maintained and become
refractory to Brk repression. The bottom set of schematics illustrate the
unique Brk:Wg ratios required to activate Dll and dac. For
dac activation, two ratios are suggested.