Complementary and mutually exclusive activities of decapentaplegic and wingless organize axial patterning during Drosophila leg development

Jin Jiang, Gary Struhl

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

153 Scopus citations

Abstract

Growth and patterning of the Drosophila leg are organized by three secreted proteins: Hedgehog (Hh), Wingless (Wg), and Decapentaplegic (Dpp). Hh is secreted by posterior cells; it acts at short range to induce dorsal anterior cells to secrete Dpp and ventral anterior cells to secrete Wg. Here we show that the complementary patterns of dpp and wg expression are maintained by mutual repression: Dpp signaling blocks wg transcription, whereas Wg signaling attenuates dpp transcription. We also show that this mutual repression is essential for normal axial patterning because it ensures that the dorsalizing and ventralizing activities of Dpp and Wg are restricted to opposite sides of the leg primordium and meet only at the center of the primordium to distalize the appendage.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)401-409
Number of pages9
JournalCell
Volume86
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 9 1996

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

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