First published online November 9, 2007
Development 134, 2304e (2007)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
A Senseless but colourful switch
Different specialized cell types arise from common progenitors many times
during development. In the Drosophila eye, for example, the different
subsets of photoreceptor cells (PRs) needed for colour discrimination arise
from the R7 and R8 neuronal precursors. Xie and co-workers now report that the
transcription factor Senseless (Sens) acts as molecular switch for PR
differentiation in Drosophila (see
p. 4243). Recent
studies have shown that the transcription factor Prospero (Pros) represses
R8-related characteristics in R7-based PRs. Xie et al. now extend these
studies by showing that sens can both induce R8-like characteristics
and repress R7-related features in terminally differentiating PRs in vivo.
They also show that Pros and Sens function with the transcription factor
Orthodenticle to oppositely regulate the expression of R7- and R8-specific
rhodopsins in vitro. Since pros and sens are expressed in
similar but distinct cell types in many developing tissues, antagonistic
pros/sens regulation of gene expression may help to create
cellular diversity in many developmental contexts.
Related articles in Development:
- Senseless functions as a molecular switch for color photoreceptor differentiation in Drosophila
- Baotong Xie, Mark Charlton-Perkins, Elizabeth McDonald, Brian Gebelein, and Tiffany Cook
Development 2007 134: 4243-4253.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]