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Independent determination of symmetry and polarity in the Drosophila eye

Choi, Kwang-Wook and Mozer, Brian and Benzer, Seymour (1996) Independent determination of symmetry and polarity in the Drosophila eye. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 93 (12). pp. 5737-5741. ISSN 0027-8424. PMCID PMC39130. doi:10.1073/pnas.93.12.5737. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20141204-073635000

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Abstract

In each facet of the Drosophila compound eye, a cluster of photoreceptor cells assumes an asymmetric trapezoidal pattern. These clusters have opposite orientations above and below an equator, showing global dorsoventral mirror symmetry. However, in the mutant spiny legs, the polarization of each cluster appears to be random, so that no equator is evident. The apparent lack of an equator suggests that spiny legs+ may be involved in the establishment of global dorsoventral identity that might be essential for proper polarization of the photoreceptor clusters. Alternatively, a global dorsoventral pattern could be present, but spiny legs^+ may be required for local polarization of individual clusters. Using an enhancer trap strain in which white^+ gene expression is restricted to the dorsal field, we show that white^+ expression in spiny legs correctly respects dorsoventral position even in facets with inappropriate polarizations; the dorsoventral boundary is indeed present, whereas the mechanism for polarization is perturbed. It is suggested that the boundary is established before the action of spiny legs^+ by an independent mechanism.


Item Type:Article
Related URLs:
URLURL TypeDescription
http://www.jstor.org/stable/39616JSTORArticle
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.93.12.5737DOIArticle
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC39130/PubMed CentralArticle
Additional Information:© 1996 National Academy of Sciences. Contributed by Seymour Benzer, February 16, 1996. We thank Rosalind Young for excellent technical assistance. We also thank Kaoru Saigo and Tetsuya Kojima for anti-BarH1 antibody and the Indiana Drosophila Stock Center for sple^1. This work was supported by grants to S.B. from the National Science Foundation (MCB 9408718), the National Institutes of Health (EY 09278 and AG 12289), and the James G. Boswell Foundation. The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact.
Funders:
Funding AgencyGrant Number
NSFMCB-9408718
NIHEY 09278
NIHAG 12289
James G. Boswell FoundationUNSPECIFIED
Subject Keywords:ommatidia; photoreceptor; mirror symmetry; equator
Issue or Number:12
PubMed Central ID:PMC39130
DOI:10.1073/pnas.93.12.5737
Record Number:CaltechAUTHORS:20141204-073635000
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20141204-073635000
Official Citation:K W Choi, B Mozer, and S Benzer Independent determination of symmetry and polarity in the Drosophila eye PNAS 1996 93 (12) 5737-5741
Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
ID Code:52365
Collection:CaltechAUTHORS
Deposited By: Ruth Sustaita
Deposited On:04 Dec 2014 18:16
Last Modified:10 Nov 2021 19:25

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