spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif ARCHIVE ANNOUNCEMENT! spacer gif
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online 24 September 2003
doi: 10.1242/dev.00773


This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
dev.00773v1
130/22/5401    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Brown, K. E.
Right arrow Articles by Freeman, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Brown, K. E.
Right arrow Articles by Freeman, M.
Development 130, 5401-5412 (2003)
Copyright © 2003 The Company of Biologists Limited

Egfr signalling defines a protective function for ommatidial orientation in the Drosophila eye

Katherine E. Brown and Matthew Freeman*

MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QH, UK

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: MF1{at}mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk)

Accepted 5 August 2003

Ommatidial rotation in the Drosophila eye provides a striking example of the precision with which tissue patterning can be achieved. Ommatidia in the adult eye are aligned at right angles to the equator, with dorsal and ventral ommatidia pointing in opposite directions. This pattern is established during disc development, when clusters rotate through 90°, a process dependent on planar cell polarity and rotation-specific factors such as Nemo and Scabrous. Here, we demonstrate a requirement for epidermal growth factor receptor (Egfr) signalling in rotation, further adding to the manifold actions of this pathway in eye development. Egfr is distinct from other rotation factors in that the initial process is unaffected, but orientation in the adult is greatly disrupted when signalling is abnormal. We propose that Egfr signalling acts in the third instar imaginal disc to `lock' ommatidia in their final position, and that in its absence, ommatidial orientation becomes disrupted during the remodelling of the larval disc into an adult eye. This lock may be achieved by a change in the adhesive properties of the cells: cadherin-based adhesion is important for ommatidia to remain in their appropriate positions. In addition, we have evidence that there is an error-correction mechanism operating during pupal stages to reposition inappropriately orientated ommatidia. Our results suggest that initial patterning events are not sufficient to achieve the precise architecture of the fly eye, and highlight a novel requirement for error-correction, and for an Egfr-dependent protection function to prevent morphological disruption during tissue remodelling.

Key words: Eye, Patterning, Ommatidial rotation, Adhesion, Epidermal growth factor receptor, spitz, keren, scabrous, nemo, roulette, argos




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
DevelopmentHome page
I. Mirkovic and M. Mlodzik
Cooperative activities of Drosophila DE-Cadherin and DN-Cadherin regulate the cell motility process of ommatidial rotation
Development, September 1, 2006; 133(17): 3283 - 3293.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
DevelopmentHome page
C. Cela and M. Llimargas
Egfr is essential for maintaining epithelial integrity during tracheal remodelling in Drosophila
Development, August 15, 2006; 133(16): 3115 - 3125.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
DevelopmentHome page
A. D. Vrailas, D. R. Marenda, S. E. Cook, M. A. Powers, J. A. Lorenzen, L. A. Perkins, and K. Moses
smoothened and thickveins regulate Moleskin/Importin 7-mediated MAP kinase signaling in the developing Drosophila eye
Development, April 15, 2006; 133(8): 1485 - 1494.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
DevelopmentHome page
A. B. Rodrigues, E. Werner, and K. Moses
Genetic and biochemical analysis of the role of Egfr in the morphogenetic furrow of the developing Drosophila eye
Development, November 1, 2005; 132(21): 4697 - 4707.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
DevelopmentHome page
Y. A. Zeng and E. M. Verheyen
Nemo is an inducible antagonist of Wingless signaling during Drosophila wing development
Development, June 15, 2004; 131(12): 2911 - 2920.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Cell Sci.Home page
M. Fanto and H. McNeill
Planar polarity from flies to vertebrates
J. Cell Sci., February 15, 2004; 117(4): 527 - 533.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
DevelopmentHome page
K. Gaengel and M. Mlodzik
Egfr signaling regulates ommatidial rotation and cell motility in the Drosophila eye via MAPK/Pnt signaling and the Ras effector Canoe/AF6
Development, November 15, 2003; 130(22): 5413 - 5423.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]




© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2003