Bicoid cooperative DNA binding is critical for embryonic patterning in Drosophila
- 6 September 2005
- journal article
- Published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Vol. 102 (37) , 13176-13181
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0506462102
Abstract
Cooperative interactions by DNA-binding proteins have been implicated in cell-fate decisions in a variety of organisms. To date, however, there are few examples in which the importance of such interactions has been explicitly tested in vivo. Here, we tested the importance of cooperative DNA binding by the Bicoid protein in establishing a pattern along the anterior-posterior axis of the early Drosophila embryo. We found that bicoid mutants specifically defective in cooperative DNA binding fail to direct proper development of the head and thorax, leading to embryonic lethality. The mutants did not faithfully stimulate transcription of downstream target genes such as hunchback (hb), giant, and Krüppel. Quantitative analysis of gene expression in vivo indicated that bcd cooperativity mutants were unable to accurately direct the extent to which hb is expressed along the anterior-posterior axis and displayed a reduced ability to generate sharp on/off transitions for hb gene expression. These failures in precise transcriptional control demonstrate the importance of cooperative DNA binding for embryonic patterning in vivo.Keywords
This publication has 49 references indexed in Scilit:
- Model for the robust establishment of precise proportions in the early Drosophila embryoJournal of Theoretical Biology, 2005
- Sap18 is required for the maternal gene bicoid to direct anterior patterning in Drosophila melanogasterDevelopmental Biology, 2005
- The Co-activator CREB-binding Protein Participates in Enhancer-dependent Activities of BicoidJournal of Biological Chemistry, 2004
- Protein-protein interaction between monomers of coliphage HK022 excisionaseFEBS Letters, 2004
- A Composite Motif of the Drosophila Morphogenetic Protein Bicoid Critical to Transcription ControlJournal of Biological Chemistry, 2003
- Isolation of Mutations that Disrupt Cooperative DNA Binding by the Drosophila Bicoid ProteinJournal of Molecular Biology, 2001
- P22 Arc Repressor: Role of Cooperativity in Repression and Binding to Operators with Altered Half-site SpacingJournal of Molecular Biology, 1995
- Synergy between the hunchback and bicoid morphogens is required for anterior patterning in DrosophilaCell, 1994
- Determination of spatial domains of zygotic gene expression in the Drosophila embryo by the affinity of binding sites for the bicoid morphogenNature, 1989
- DNA specificity of the bicoid activator protein is determined by homeodomain recognition helix residue 9Cell, 1989