Premium
Retinal determination genes function along with cell‐cell signals to regulate Drosophila eye development
Author(s) -
Baker Nicholas E.,
Firth Lucy C.
Publication year - 2011
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/bies.201000131
Subject(s) - eye development , biology , enhancer , gene , transcription factor , cell , hedgehog , microbiology and biotechnology , signal transduction , cell fate determination , genetics , cell signaling , regulation of gene expression , gene expression , ectopic expression
It is thought that retinal determination (RD) gene products define the response made to cell‐cell signals in the field of eye development by binding to enhancers of genes that are also regulated by cell‐cell signaling pathways. In Drosophila , RD genes, including eyeless , teashirt , eyes absent , dachsous , and sine oculis , are required for normal eye development and can induce ectopic eyes when mis‐expressed. Characterization of the enhancers responsible for eye expression of the hedgehog , shaven , and atonal genes, as well as the dynamics of RD gene expression themselves, now suggest a multilayered network whereby transcriptional regulation by either RD genes or cell‐cell signaling pathways can sometimes be indirect and mediated by other transcription factor intermediates. In this updated view of the interaction between extracellular information and cell intrinsic programs during development, regulation of individual genes might sometimes be several steps removed from either the RD genes or the cell‐cell signaling pathways that nevertheless govern their expression.