Abstract
The Drosophila embryo transiently exhibits a double segment periodicity, defined by the expression of seven "pair-rule" genes, each in a pattern of seven stripes. At gastrulation, interactions between the pair-rule genes lead to frequency doubling and the patterning of fourteen parasegment boundaries. In contrast to earlier stages of Drosophila anteroposterior patterning, this transition is not well understood. By carefully analysing the spatiotemporal dynamics of pair-rule gene expression, we demonstrate that frequency-doubling is precipitated by multiple coordinated changes to the network of regulatory interactions between the pair-rule genes. We identify the broadly expressed but temporally patterned transcription factor, Odd-paired (Opa/Zic), as the cause of these changes, and show that the patterning of the even-numbered parasegment boundaries relies on Opa-dependent regulatory interactions. Our findings indicate that the pair-rule gene regulatory network has a temporally-modulated topology, permitting the pair-rule genes to play stage-specific patterning roles.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (PhD Studentship)
- Erik Clark
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Reviewing Editor
- Patricia J Wittkopp, University of Michigan, United States
Publication history
- Received: May 26, 2016
- Accepted: August 14, 2016
- Accepted Manuscript published: August 15, 2016 (version 1)
- Version of Record published: September 23, 2016 (version 2)
Copyright
© 2016, Clark & Akam
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
Metrics
-
- 3,100
- Page views
-
- 628
- Downloads
-
- 29
- Citations
Article citation count generated by polling the highest count across the following sources: Scopus, Crossref, PubMed Central.