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Analysis of pattern precision shows that Drosophila segmentation develops substantial independence from gradients of maternal gene products
Author(s) -
Holloway David M.,
Harrison Lionel G.,
Kosman David,
VanarioAlonso Carlos E.,
Spirov Alexander V.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
developmental dynamics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.634
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1097-0177
pISSN - 1058-8388
DOI - 10.1002/dvdy.20940
Subject(s) - biology , segmentation , drosophila embryogenesis , independence (probability theory) , gene , gap gene , cleavage (geology) , genetics , position (finance) , drosophila (subgenus) , drosophila melanogaster , artificial intelligence , statistics , computer science , mathematics , paleontology , fracture (geology) , finance , economics
We analyze the relation between maternal gradients and segmentation in Drosophila , by quantifying spatial precision in protein patterns. Segmentation is first seen in the striped expression patterns of the pair‐rule genes, such as even‐skipped ( eve ). We compare positional precision between Eve and the maternal gradients of Bicoid (Bcd) and Caudal (Cad) proteins, showing that Eve position could be initially specified by the maternal protein concentrations but that these do not have the precision to specify the mature striped pattern of Eve. By using spatial trends, we avoid possible complications in measuring single boundary precision (e.g., gap gene patterns) and can follow how precision changes in time. During nuclear cleavage cycles 13 and 14, we find that Eve becomes increasingly correlated with egg length, whereas Bcd does not. This finding suggests that the change in precision is part of a separation of segmentation from an absolute spatial measure, established by the maternal gradients, to one precise in relative (percent egg length) units. Developmental Dynamics 235:2949–2960, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.