Direct flight muscles in Drosophila develop from cells with characteristics of founders and depend on DWnt-2 for their correct patterning.
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Title | Direct flight muscles in Drosophila develop from cells with characteristics of founders and depend on DWnt-2 for their correct patterning. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2002 |
Authors | Kozopas KM, Nusse R |
Journal | Dev Biol |
Volume | 243 |
Pagination | 312–325 |
Date Published | Mar |
ISSN | 0012-1606 (Print); 0012-1606 (Linking) |
Abstract | The direct flight muscles (DFMs) of Drosophila allow for the fine control of wing position necessary for flight. In DWnt-2 mutant flies, certain DFMs are either missing or fail to attach to the correct epithelial sites. Using a temperature-sensitive allele, we show that DWnt-2 activity is required only during pupation for correct DFM patterning. DWnt-2 is expressed in the epithelium of the wing hinge primordium during pupation. This expression is in the vicinity of the developing DFMs, as revealed by expression of the muscle founder cell-specific gene dumbfounded in DFM precursors. The observation that a gene necessary for embryonic founder cell function is expressed in the DFM precursors suggests that these cells may have a similar founder cell role. Although the expression pattern of DWnt-2 suggests that it could influence epithelial cells to differentiate into attachment sites for muscle, the expression of stripe, a transcription factor necessary for epithelial cells to adopt an attachment cell fate, is unaltered in the mutant. Ectopic expression of DWnt-2 in the wing hinge during pupation can also create defects in muscle patterning without alterations in stripe expression. We conclude that DWnt-2 promotes the correct patterning of DFMs through a mechanism that is independent of the attachment site differentiation initiated by stripe. |
DOI | 10.1006/dbio.2002.0572 |