Optomotor-blind negatively regulates Drosophila eye development by blocking Jak/STAT signaling.

Yu-Chen Tsai,Chi-Kuang Yao,Jie Shen,Ju-Lan Chao,Fred Eichinger,Shih-Chin Wang,Shih-Han Lin,Y Henry Sun,Chih-Hsuan Chang,Gert O Pflugfelder,Stefan Grimm,Theoni Michalopoulou,Kerstin Hofmeyer,Franck Pichaud

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0120236

Abstract

Organ formation requires a delicate balance of positive and negative regulators. In Drosophila eye development, wingless (wg) is expressed at the lateral margins of the eye disc and serves to block retinal development. The T-box gene optomotor-blind (omb) is expressed in a similar pattern and is regulated by Wg. Omb mediates part of Wg activity in blocking eye development. Omb exerts its function primarily by blocking cell proliferation. These effects occur predominantly in the ventral margin. Our results suggest that the primary effect of Omb is the blocking of Jak/STAT signaling by repressing transcription of upd which encodes the Jak receptor ligand Unpaired.

Highlights

The Drosophila compound eye originates from the eye-antenna anlage in the embryo
Omb is expressed in the retinal basal glial cells that lie at the basal level of the eye disc and in the optic stalk [39,70] (S1A Fig.)
We found that loss-of-function and gain-of-function omb mutations caused changes in eye size

Summary

Introduction

The Drosophila compound eye originates from the eye-antenna anlage in the embryo. These cells proliferate and form the eye-antennal disc in the larva. In the mid-third instar eye disc, a wave of cell cycle coordination and apical cellular constriction, called the morphogenetic furrow (MF) forms at the posterior margin and progressively moves toward anterior. Posterior to the MF, retinal cell fates are specified by a series of cellular interactions [1,2,3,4]. The early steps of eye development involve at least three aspects: specification of eye fate, control of cell proliferation, and initiation and progression of the MF. Eye fate is specified by the retinal determination gene network which includes the transcription factors encoded by eyeless (ey), twin of eyeless (toy), sine oculis (so), eyes absent (eya), and dachshund (dac) [5,6]

Methods

Results

Conclusion