The transcription factor Glass links eye field specification with photoreceptor differentiation in Drosophila
- Bernardo-Garcia, F. Javier Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
- Fritsch, Cornelia Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
- Sprecher, Simon G. Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
-
15.04.2016
Published in:
- Development. - 2016, vol. 143, no. 8, p. 1413–1423
English
Eye development requires an evolutionarily conserved group of transcription factors, termed the retinal determination network (RDN). However, little is known about the molecular mechanism by which the RDN instructs cells to differentiate into photoreceptors. We show that photoreceptor cell identity in Drosophila is critically regulated by the transcription factor Glass, which is primarily expressed in photoreceptors and whose role in this process was previously unknown. Glass is both required and sufficient for the expression of phototransduction proteins. Our results demonstrate that the RDN member Sine oculis directly activates glass expression, and that Glass activates the expression of the transcription factors Hazy and Otd. We identified hazy as a direct target of Glass. Induced expression of Hazy in the retina partially rescues the glass mutant phenotype. Together, our results provide a transcriptional link between eye field specification and photoreceptor differentiation in Drosophila, placing Glass at a central position in this developmental process.
- Faculty
- Faculté des sciences et de médecine
- Department
- Département de Biologie
- Language
-
- English
- Classification
- Biological sciences
- License
- License undefined
- Identifiers
-
- RERO DOC 260661
- DOI 10.1242/dev.128801
- Persistent URL
- https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/304844
Other files
Statistics
Document views: 23
File downloads:
- spr_tfg.pdf: 49
- spr_tfg_sm.pdf: 31