TY - JOUR
T1 - A role for nautilus in the differentiation of muscle precursors
AU - Keller, Cheryl A.
AU - Grill, Mischala A.
AU - Abmayr, Susan M.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank J. Stains and C. Gay for assistance with confocal microscopy; D. Heyser, M. R. Erickson, B. Galletta, and C. Atwell for assistance with deficiency screens and point mutations; and B. Bour and C. Atwell for technical assistance. We especially thank S. Carroll and M. Baylies for generous gifts of antibodies. Finally, we thank M. Steitz and B. Galletta for critical reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (IBN-9513334).
PY - 1998/10/15
Y1 - 1998/10/15
N2 - In the Drosophila embryo, nautilus is expressed in a subset of muscle precursors and differentiated fibers and is capable of inducing muscle- specific transcription, as well as myogenic transformation. In this study, we examine the consequences of nautilus loss-of-function on the development of the somatic musculature. Genetic and molecular characterization of two overlapping deficiencies, Df(3R)nau-9 and Df(3R)nau-11a4, revealed that both of these deficiencies remove the nautilus gene without affecting a common lethal complementation group. Individuals transheterozygous for these deficiencies survive to adulthood, indicating that nautilus is not an essential gene. These embryos are, however, missing a subset of muscle fibers, providing evidence that (1) some muscle loss can be tolerated throughout larval development and (2) nautilus does play a role in muscle development. Examination of muscle precursors in these embryos revealed that nautilus is not required for the formation of muscle precursors, but rather plays a role in their differentiation into mature muscle fibers. Thus, we suggest that nautilus functions in a subset of muscle precursors to implement their specific differentiation programs.
AB - In the Drosophila embryo, nautilus is expressed in a subset of muscle precursors and differentiated fibers and is capable of inducing muscle- specific transcription, as well as myogenic transformation. In this study, we examine the consequences of nautilus loss-of-function on the development of the somatic musculature. Genetic and molecular characterization of two overlapping deficiencies, Df(3R)nau-9 and Df(3R)nau-11a4, revealed that both of these deficiencies remove the nautilus gene without affecting a common lethal complementation group. Individuals transheterozygous for these deficiencies survive to adulthood, indicating that nautilus is not an essential gene. These embryos are, however, missing a subset of muscle fibers, providing evidence that (1) some muscle loss can be tolerated throughout larval development and (2) nautilus does play a role in muscle development. Examination of muscle precursors in these embryos revealed that nautilus is not required for the formation of muscle precursors, but rather plays a role in their differentiation into mature muscle fibers. Thus, we suggest that nautilus functions in a subset of muscle precursors to implement their specific differentiation programs.
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U2 - 10.1006/dbio.1998.9009
DO - 10.1006/dbio.1998.9009
M3 - Article
C2 - 9769169
AN - SCOPUS:0032531950
SN - 0012-1606
VL - 202
SP - 157
EP - 171
JO - Developmental biology
JF - Developmental biology
IS - 2
ER -