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Wing patterning knot untangled
Author(s) -
Hidalgo Alicia
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1521-1878(199806)20:6<449::aid-bies2>3.0.co;2-h
Subject(s) - decapentaplegic , wing , hedgehog , biology , knot (papermaking) , gene , genetics , drosophila melanogaster , imaginal disc , physics , chemical engineering , engineering , thermodynamics
Size and patterning of the Drosophila wing may result from the subdivision into nested sectors of gene expression under the control of the signaling molecule Decapentaplegic. However, until recently, it was unknown how the central most sector of the wing is defined. Hedgehog plays a patterning role independent of Decapentaplegic in this central intervein 3/4 region, where it regulates the expression of its direct target gene engrailed. Recent findings by Nestoras et al. 1 have demonstrated that the gene knot is also a direct target of Hedgehog function. Remarkably, the role of knot is restricted to the intervein 3/4 region of the wing. The finding of the patterning role of knot promises to complete the puzzle of the sectorial organization of the wing. BioEssays 20 :449–452, 1998. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons Inc.