The fully linked HTML version of this article has now been published.
Development ePress online publication date 27 Aug 2003
doi: 10.1242/dev.00723
Research article
Specification of the vertebrate eye by a network of eye field transcription factors
Michael E. Zuber,
Gaia Gestri,
Andrea S. Viczian,
Giuseppina Barsacchi,
and
William A. Harris*
* Author for correspondence (e-mail: harris{at}mole.bio.cam.ac.uk)
Several eye-field transcription factors (EFTFs) are expressed in the anterior region of the vertebrate neural plate and are essential for eye formation. The Xenopus EFTFs ET, Rx1, Pax6, Six3, Lhx2, tll and Optx2 are expressed in a dynamic, overlapping pattern in the presumptive eye field. Expression of an EFTF cocktail with Otx2 is sufficient to induce ectopic eyes outside the nervous system at high frequency. Using both cocktail subsets and functional (inductive) analysis of individual EFTFs, we have revealed a genetic network regulating vertebrate eye field specification. Our results support a model of progressive tissue specification in which neural induction then Otx2-driven neural patterning primes the anterior neural plate for eye field formation. Next, the EFTFs form a self-regulating feedback network that specifies the vertebrate eye field. We find striking similarities and differences to the network of homologous Drosophila genes that specify the eye imaginal disc, a finding that is consistent with the idea of a partial evolutionary conservation of eye formation.
This article has been cited by other articles:

|
 |

|
 |
 
N. Dale
Dynamic ATP signalling and neural development
J. Physiol.,
May 15, 2008;
586(10):
2429 - 2436.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
R. Zaccarini, F. P. Cordelieres, P. Martin, and S. Saule
PAX6 P46 Binds Chromosomes in the Pericentromeric Region and Induces a Mitosis Defect When Overexpressed
Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci.,
December 1, 2007;
48(12):
5408 - 5419.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
K. Satoh, J. Ohnishi, A. Sato, M. Takeyama, S.-i. Iemura, T. Natsume, and H. Shibuya
Nemo-Like Kinase-Myocyte Enhancer Factor 2A Signaling Regulates Anterior Formation in Xenopus Development
Mol. Cell. Biol.,
November 1, 2007;
27(21):
7623 - 7630.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
H. Klassen, J. F. Kiilgaard, T. Zahir, B. Ziaeian, I. Kirov, E. Scherfig, K. Warfvinge, and M. J. Young
Progenitor Cells from the Porcine Neural Retina Express Photoreceptor Markers After Transplantation to the Subretinal Space of Allorecipients
Stem Cells,
May 1, 2007;
25(5):
1222 - 1230.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
M. Madhavan, T. L. Haynes, N. C. Frisch, M. K. Call, C. M. Minich, P. A. Tsonis, and K. Del Rio-Tsonis
The role of Pax-6 in lens regeneration
PNAS,
October 3, 2006;
103(40):
14848 - 14853.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
Y. Pan, S. Nekkalapudi, L. E. Kelly, and H. M. El-Hodiri
The Rx-like Homeobox Gene (Rx-L) Is Necessary for Normal Photoreceptor Development.
Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci.,
October 1, 2006;
47(10):
4245 - 4253.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
E Pras, O Mahler, V Kumar, M Frydman, N Gefen, E Pras, and J F Hejtmancik
A new locus for autosomal dominant posterior polar cataract in Moroccan Jews maps to chromosome 14q22-23.
J. Med. Genet.,
October 1, 2006;
43(10):
e50 - e50.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
D. A. Lamba, M. O. Karl, C. B. Ware, and T. A. Reh
Efficient generation of retinal progenitor cells from human embryonic stem cells
PNAS,
August 22, 2006;
103(34):
12769 - 12774.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
A. Seth, J. Culverwell, M. Walkowicz, S. Toro, J. M. Rick, S. C. F. Neuhauss, Z. M. Varga, and R. O. Karlstrom
belladonna/(lhx2) is required for neural patterning and midline axon guidance in the zebrafish forebrain
Development,
February 15, 2006;
133(4):
725 - 735.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
G. Gestri, M. Carl, I. Appolloni, S. W. Wilson, G. Barsacchi, and M. Andreazzoli
Six3 functions in anterior neural plate specification by promoting cell proliferation and inhibiting Bmp4 expression
Development,
May 15, 2005;
132(10):
2401 - 2413.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
T. Melkman and P. Sengupta
Regulation of chemosensory and GABAergic motor neuron development by the C. elegans Aristaless/Arx homolog alr-1
Development,
April 15, 2005;
132(8):
1935 - 1949.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
D. J. Horsford, M.-T. T. Nguyen, G. C. Sellar, R. Kothary, H. Arnheiter, and R. R. McInnes
Chx10 repression of Mitf is required for the maintenance of mammalian neuroretinal identity
Development,
January 1, 2005;
132(1):
177 - 187.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
C Y Gregory-Evans, M J Williams, S Halford, and K Gregory-Evans
Ocular coloboma: a reassessment in the age of molecular neuroscience
J. Med. Genet.,
December 1, 2004;
41(12):
881 - 891.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
S. Aijaz, B. J. Clark, K. Williamson, V. van Heyningen, D. Morrison, D. FitzPatrick, R. Collin, N. Ragge, A. Christoforou, A. Brown, et al.
Absence of SIX6 Mutations in Microphthalmia, Anophthalmia, and Coloboma
Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci.,
November 1, 2004;
45(11):
3871 - 3876.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
T. Pratt, N. M. M.-L. Tian, T. I. Simpson, J. O. Mason, and D. J. Price
The winged helix transcription factor Foxg1 facilitates retinal ganglion cell axon crossing of the ventral midline in the mouse
Development,
August 1, 2004;
131(15):
3773 - 3784.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
J. Piatigorsky
Gene Sharing, Lens Crystallins and Speculations on an Eye/Ear Evolutionary Relationship
Integr. Comp. Biol.,
August 1, 2003;
43(4):
492 - 499.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|
© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2003