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Development, Vol 126, Issue 11 2431-2439, Copyright © 1999 by Company of Biologists
JOURNAL ARTICLES |
PA Lawrence, J Casal and G Struhl
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QH, UK. pal@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk
Like the Drosophila embryo, the abdomen of the adult consists of alternating anterior (A) and posterior (P) compartments. However the wing is made by only part of one A and part of one P compartment. The abdomen therefore offers an opportunity to compare two compartment borders (A/P is within the segment and P/A intervenes between two segments), and ask if they act differently in pattern formation. In the embryo, abdomen and wing P compartment cells express the selector gene engrailed and secrete Hedgehog protein whilst A compartment cells need the patched and smoothened genes in order to respond to Hedgehog. We made clones of cells with altered activities of the engrailed, patched and smoothened genes. Our results confirm (1) that the state of engrailed, whether 'off' or 'on', determines whether a cell is of A or P type and (2) that Hedgehog signalling, coming from the adjacent P compartments across both A/P and P/A boundaries, organises the pattern of all the A cells. We have uncovered four new aspects of compartments and engrailed in the abdomen. First, we show that engrailed acts in the A compartment: Hedgehog leaves the P cells and crosses the A/P boundary where it induces engrailed in a narrow band of A cells. engrailed causes these cells to form a special type of cuticle. No similar effect occurs when Hedgehog crosses the P/A border. Second, we look at the polarity changes induced by the clones, and build a working hypothesis that polarity is organised, in both compartments, by molecule(s) emanating from the A/P but not the P/A boundaries. Third, we show that both the A and P compartments are each divided into anterior and posterior subdomains. This additional stratification makes the A/P and the P/A boundaries fundamentally distinct from each other. Finally, we find that when engrailed is removed from P cells (of, say, segment A5) they transform not into A cells of the same segment, but into A cells of the same parasegment (segment A6).
This article has been cited by other articles:
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  J. Casal, P. A. Lawrence, and G. Struhl Two separate molecular systems, Dachsous/Fat and Starry night/Frizzled, act independently to confer planar cell polarity. Development, November 1, 2006; 133(22): 4561 - 4572. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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P. A. Lawrence, J. Casal, and G. Struhl Cell interactions and planar polarity in the abdominal epidermis of Drosophila Development, October 1, 2004; 131(19): 4651 - 4664. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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D. H. Shain, D. K. Stuart, F. Z. Huang, and D. A. Weisblat Cell interactions that affect axonogenesis in the leech Theromyzon rude Development, September 1, 2004; 131(17): 4143 - 4153. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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 M. Wijgerde, J. A. McMahon, M. Rule, and A. P. McMahon A direct requirement for Hedgehog signaling for normal specification of all ventral progenitor domains in the presumptive mammalian spinal cord Genes & Dev., November 15, 2002; 16(22): 2849 - 2864. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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P. A. Lawrence, J. Casal, and G. Struhl Towards a model of the organisation of planar polarity and pattern in the Drosophila abdomen Development, January 6, 2002; 129(11): 2749 - 2760. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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M Calleja, H Herranz, C Estella, J Casal, P Lawrence, P Simpson, and G Morata Generation of medial and lateral dorsal body domains by the pannier gene of Drosophila Development, January 9, 2000; 127(18): 3971 - 3980. [Abstract] [PDF]
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D. Shain, D. Stuart, F. Huang, and D. Weisblat Segmentation of the central nervous system in leech Development, January 2, 2000; 127(4): 735 - 744. [Abstract] [PDF]
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G Morata and E Sanchez-Herrero Patterning mechanisms in the body trunk and the appendages of Drosophila Development, January 7, 1999; 126(13): 2823 - 2828. [Abstract] [PDF]
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P. Lawrence, J Casal, and G Struhl The hedgehog morphogen and gradients of cell affinity in the abdomen of Drosophila Development, January 6, 1999; 126(11): 2441 - 2449. [Abstract] [PDF]
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