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Control of antennal versus leg development in Drosophila

Nature volume 392, pages 723–726 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

During the evolution of insects from a millipede-like ancestor, the Hox genes are thought to have promoted the diversification of originally identical body structures1,2. In Drosophila melanogaster, antennae and legs are homologous structures that differ from each other as a result of the Hox gene Antennapedia (Antp), which promotes leg identities by repressing unknown antennal-determining genes3,4,5,6,7. Here we present four lines of evidence that identify extradenticle (exd) and homothorax (hth) as antennal-determining genes. First, removing the function of exd8,9 or hth, which is required for the nuclear localization of Exd protein10, transforms the antenna into leg; such transformations occur without activation of Antp. Second, hth is expressed and Exd is nuclear in most antennal cells, whereas both are restricted to proximal cells of the leg. Third, Antp is a repressor of hth. Fourth, ectopic expression of Meis1, a murine hth homologue10, can trigger antennal development elsewhere in the fly. Taken together, these data indicate that hth is an antennal selector gene, and that Antp promotes leg development by repressing hth and consequently nuclear Exd.

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Figure 1: The hth gene is required for antennal development and the nuclear localization of Exd.
Figure 2: The patterns of Antp and nuclear Exd during development.
Figure 3: Antp represses hth expression and results in cytoplasmic Exd.
Figure 4: hth/Meis1 directs antennal development.

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Acknowledgements

We thank G..Struhl for fly stocks (including the FRT AntpNS+RC3 chromosome) and for generating a new set of Antp−M+ clones; H. D. Ryoo for preparing the Hth protein for making the anti-Hth antibody; M. Abu-Shaar for generating the NLS–Exd fusion; G. Rieckhof for first characterizing hth− clones; G. Panganiban and D. Brower for antibodies; and G. Morata, E. Sánchez-Herrero, G. Struhl and members of our laboratory for discussions and comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the HFSP and NIH to R.S.M. F.C. was supported by an EMBO fellowship and R.S.M. is a scholar of the Leukemia Society of America.

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  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 701 West 168th Street, HHSC 1108, New York, 10032, New York, USA

    Fernando Casares & Richard S. Mann

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Correspondence to Richard S. Mann.

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Casares, F., Mann, R. Control of antennal versus leg development in Drosophila. Nature 392, 723–726 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/33706

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