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Development 129, 2419-2433 (2002)
© 2002 The Company of Biologists Limited

The bric à brac locus consists of two paralogous genes encoding BTB/POZ domain proteins and acts as a homeotic and morphogenetic regulator of imaginal development in Drosophila

Jean-Louis Couderc1,*,{dagger}, Dorothea Godt2,*,{dagger}, Susan Zollman3,*, Jiong Chen3, Michelle Li2, Stanley Tiong4, Sarah E. Cramton3, Isabelle Sahut-Barnola1 and Frank A. Laski3,{dagger}

1 INSERM UMR 384, Laboratoire de Biochimie, 28 place Henri Dunant, 63001 Clermont-Ferrand, Cedex, France
2 Department of Zoology, University of Toronto, 25 Harbord Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G5, Canada
3 Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
4 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada
* These authors contributed equally to this work

{dagger}Authors for correspondence (e-mail: laski{at}mbi.ucla.edu, jl.couderc{at}u-clermont1.fr and dgodt{at}zoo.utoronto.ca)

Accepted 15 February 2002

The bric à brac (bab) locus acts as a homeotic and morphogenetic regulator in the development of ovaries, appendages and the abdomen. It consists of two structurally and functionally related genes, bab1 and bab2, each of which encodes a single nuclear protein. Bab1 and Bab2 have two conserved domains in common, a BTB/POZ domain and a Psq domain, a motif that characterizes a subfamily of BTB/POZ domain proteins in Drosophila. The tissue distribution of Bab1 and Bab2 overlaps, with Bab1 being expressed in a subpattern of Bab2. Analysis of a series of mutations indicates that the two bab genes have synergistic, distinct and redundant functions during imaginal development. Interestingly, several reproduction-related traits that are sexually dimorphic or show diversity among Drosophila species are highly sensitive to changes in the bab gene dose, suggesting that alterations in bab activity may contribute to evolutionary modification of sex-related morphology.

Key words: bric à brac, Ovaries, Legs, Abdomen, Secondary sexual traits, Anteroposterior and proximodistal patterning, BTB/POZ domain, Psq domain, Drosophila






© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2002