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Lessons about terminal differentiation from the specification of color‐detecting photoreceptors in the Drosophila retina
Author(s) -
Johnston Robert J.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/nyas.12178
Subject(s) - cell fate determination , retina , biology , drosophila (subgenus) , gene regulatory network , neuroscience , cellular differentiation , gene , computational biology , cell type , photoreceptor cell , gene expression , cell , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , transcription factor
Metazoans require highly diverse collections of cell types to sense, interpret, and react to the environment. Developmental programs incorporate deterministic and stochastic strategies in different contexts or different combinations to establish this multitude of cell fates. Precise genetic dissection of the processes controlling terminal photoreceptor differentiation in the Drosophila retina has revealed complex regulatory mechanisms required to generate differences in gene expression and cell fate. In this review, I discuss how a gene regulatory network interprets stochastic and regional inputs to determine the specification of color‐detecting photoreceptor subtypes in the Drosophila retina. These combinatorial gene regulatory mechanisms will likely be broadly applicable to nervous system development and cell fate specification in general.