Ras1 interacts with multiple new signaling and cytoskeletal loci in Drosophila eggshell patterning and morphogenesis.
Abstract
Little is known about the genes that interact with Ras signaling pathways to regulate morphogenesis. The synthesis of dorsal eggshell structures in Drosophila melanogaster requires multiple rounds of Ras signaling followed by dramatic epithelial sheet movements. We took advantage of this process to identify genes that link patterning and morphogenesis; we screened lethal mutations on the second chromosome for those that could enhance a weak Ras1 eggshell phenotype. Of 1618 lethal P-element mutations tested, 13 showed significant enhancement, resulting in forked and fused dorsal appendages. Our genetic and molecular analyses together with information from the Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project reveal that 11 of these lines carry mutations in previously characterized genes. Three mutations disrupt the known Ras1 cell signaling components Star, Egfr, and Blistered, while one mutation disrupts Sec61beta, implicated in ligand secretion. Seven lines represent cell signaling and cytoskeletal components that are new to the Ras1 pathway; these are Chickadee (Profilin), Tec29, Dreadlocks, POSH, Peanut, Smt3, and MESK2, a suppressor of dominant-negative Ksr. A twelfth insertion disrupts two genes, Nrk, a "neurospecific" receptor tyrosine ...Continue Reading
References
The torso pathway in Drosophila: lessons on receptor tyrosine kinase signaling and pattern formation
Drosophila photoreceptor axon guidance and targeting requires the dreadlocks SH2/SH3 adapter protein
Nedd5, a mammalian septin, is a novel cytoskeletal component interacting with actin-based structures
The interpretation of position in a morphogen gradient as revealed by occupancy of activin receptors
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