Abstract
BackgroundThe Drosophila hindgut is commonly used model for studying various aspects of organogenesis like primordium establishment, further specification, patterning, and morphogenesis. During embryonic development of Drosophila, many transcriptional activators are involved in the formation of the hindgut. The transcription factor Orthopedia (Otp), a member of the 57B homeobox gene cluster, is expressed in the hindgut and nervous system of developing Drosophila embryos, but due to the lack of mutants no functional analysis has been conducted yet.ResultsWe show that two different otp transcripts, a hindgut-specific and a nervous system-specific form, are present in the Drosophila embryo. Using an Otp antibody, a detailed expression analysis during hindgut development was carried out. Otp was not only expressed in the embryonic hindgut, but also in the larval and adult hindgut. To analyse the function of otp, we generated the mutant otp allele otpGT by ends-out gene targeting. In addition, we isolated two EMS-induced otp alleles in a genetic screen for mutants of the 57B region. All three otp alleles showed embryonic lethality with a severe hindgut phenotype. Anal pads were reduced and the large intestine was completely missing. This phenotype is due to apoptosis in the hindgut primordium and the developing hindgut.ConclusionOur data suggest that Otp is another important factor for hindgut development of Drosophila. As a downstream factor of byn Otp is most likely present only in differentiated hindgut cells during all stages of development rather than in stem cells.
Highlights
The Drosophila hindgut is commonly used model for studying various aspects of organogenesis like primordium establishment, further specification, patterning, and morphogenesis
At stage 14, otp expression can be detected in the hindgut and anal pads, but not in the ventral nerve cord and brain (Fig. 1j). These results indicate that the smaller 2.3 kb otp transcript is expressed in the hindgut primordium, embryonic hindgut and anal pads, whereas the expression of the larger 2.9 kb otp transcript is restricted to the embryonic nervous system, where it is expressed in the ventral nerve cord and brain
Using gene expression analysis and newly generated mutant otp alleles, we showed that the Drosophila homeodomain transcription factor Orthopedia is an important factor for hindgut development
Summary
The Drosophila hindgut is commonly used model for studying various aspects of organogenesis like primordium establishment, further specification, patterning, and morphogenesis. During embryonic development of Drosophila, many transcriptional activators are involved in the formation of the hindgut. The transcription factor Orthopedia (Otp), a member of the 57B homeobox gene cluster, is expressed in the hindgut and nervous system of developing Drosophila embryos, but due to the lack of mutants no functional analysis has been conducted yet. The Drosophila embryonic hindgut is a single-layered ectodermally derived epithelium surrounded by visceral musculature [1,2,3]. It arises from a group of cells at the posterior part of the blastoderm stage embryo referred to as the hindgut primordium [1]. The hindgut primordium is a ring of about 200 blastoderm cells that is internalised during gastrulation to form a short, wide sac. The most posterior-most portion of the hindgut is the rectum, which connects to the anal pads
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