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First published online 9 July 2008
doi: 10.1242/dev.017814

Development 135, 2767-2775 (2008)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2008
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Hedgehog and Wingless stabilize but do not induce cell fate during Drosophila dorsal embryonic epidermal patterning

Stephane Vincent1, Norbert Perrimon2 and Jeffrey D. Axelrod1,*

1 Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
2 Department of Genetics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: jaxelrod{at}stanford.edu)

Accepted 18 June 2008

A fundamental concept in development is that secreted molecules such as Wingless (Wg) and Hedgehog (Hh) generate pattern by inducing cell fate. By following markers of cellular identity posterior to the Wg- and Hh-expressing cells in the Drosophila dorsal embryonic epidermis, we provide evidence that neither Wg nor Hh specifies the identity of the cell types they pattern. Rather, they maintain pre-existing cellular identities that are otherwise unstable and progress stepwise towards a default fate. Wg and Hh therefore generate pattern by inhibiting specific switches in cell identity, showing that the specification and the patterning of a given cell are uncoupled. Sequential binary decisions without induction of cell identity give rise to both the groove cells and their posterior neighbors. The combination of independent progression of cell identity and arrest of progression by signals facilitates accurate patterning of an extremely plastic developing epidermis.

Key words: Drosophila, Hedgehog, Wingless, Embryo, Patterning


Related articles in Development:

Hh and Wg: inducers or stabilisers of cell fate?

Development 2008 135: e1604. [Full Text]  





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