Borders of parasegments in Drosophila embryos are delimited by the fushi tarazu and even-skipped genes

One of the earliest molecular signs of segmentation in Drosophila embryos is the striped expression of some pair-rule genes during the blastoderm stage. Two of these genes, fushi-tarazu (ftz) and even-skipped (eve) are expressed during this stage in complementary patterns of seven stripes which develop and disappear in concert. Here, we map the cells expressing each of these two pair-rule genes with respect to the 14 stripes of cells expressing the engrailed gene. We find that both ftz and eve generate stripes which have sharp boundaries at the anterior margin, but fade away posteriorly. The anterior boundaries correspond cell by cell with the anterior boundaries of expression of the engrailed gene. We therefore suggest that a key function of early ftz and eve gene activity is the formation of a sharp stable boundary at the anterior margin of each stripe. These boundary lines, rather than the narrowing zonal stripes, would delimit the anterior boundaries of engrailed and other homoeotic genes and thereby subdivide the embryo into parasegments.     

A zone of non-proliferating cells at a lineage restriction boundary in Drosophila

The use of X-ray-induced mitotic recombination to genetically mark individual cells and their descendants during development has led to the discovery of lineage restriction boundaries in Drosophila imaginal disks, dividing the disks into areas called compartments. Clones of cells initiated after a given developmental stage are unable to grow across these boundaries, even if provided with a growth rate advantage over the remaining cells. It has been suggested that cells within compartments are distinguished by the differential activation of selector genes and that the lineage restrictions are maintained by adhesivity differences between the cells in different compartments, but other mechanisms have not been ruled out. Recently a discrete population of cells with unusual permeability properties has been described along an intersegmental lineage restriction boundary in Oncopeltus, suggesting that a lineage restriction could be maintained by a zone of cells which present a barrier to clone growth. Here we demonstrate by autoradiography the presence of a narrow zone of non-proliferating cells (ZNC) coincident with the presumptive wing margin in the Drosophila wing disk, and suggest that this could account for the observed lineage restriction between presumptive dorsal and ventral surfaces of the wing. As the anterior/posterior compartment boundary does not coincide with a ZNC, the results indicate that different lineage boundaries may be maintained by different mechanisms.     

Isolation of a homoeo box-containing gene from the engrailed region of Drosophila and the spatial distribution of its transcripts

The engrailed locus of Drosophila melanogaster has the characteristics of both a homoeotic gene and a segmentation gene: like a homoeotic gene, it specifies the development of specific compartments of the Drosophila embryo (the posterior compartments of each segment), and, like mutations of segmentation genes, lethal alleles of engrailed affect also the pattern of segmentation of the embryo. Here we report that like many of the homoeotic genes of the bithorax and Antennapedia complexes, engrailed has a 'homoeo box' sequence: also, like the segmentation gene fushi tarazu, the engrailed gene displays a periodic pattern of expression in Drosophila embryos.     

brinker is a target of Dpp in Drosophila that negatively regulates Dpp-dependent genes

Growth and patterning of the Drosophila wing is controlled in part by the long-range organizing activities of the Decapentaplegic protein (Dpp). Dpp is synthesized by cells that line the anterior side of the anterior/posterior compartment border of the wing imaginal disc. From this source, Dpp is thought to generate a concentration gradient that patterns both anterior and posterior compartments. Among the gene targets that it regulates are optomotor blind (omb), spalt (sal), and daughters against dpp (dad). We report here the molecular cloning of brinker (brk), and show that brk expression is repressed by dpp. brk encodes, a protein that negatively regulates Dpp-dependent genes. Expression of brk in Xenopus embryos indicates that brk can also repress the targets of a vertebrate homologue of Dpp, bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP-4). The evolutionary conservation of Brk function underscores the importance of its negative role in proportioning Dpp activity.     

Caudal is the Hox gene that specifies the most posterior Drosophile segment.

The homeobox gene caudal (cad) has a maternal embryonic function that establishes the antero-posterior body axis of Drosophila. It also has a conserved late embryonic and imaginal function related to the development of the posterior body region. Here we report the developmental role of cad in adult Drosophila. It is required for the normal development of the analia structures, which derive from the most posterior body segment. In the absence of cad function, the analia develop like the immediately anterior segment (male genitalia), following the transformation rule of the canonical Hox genes. We also show that cad can induce ectopic analia development if expressed in the head or wing. We propose that cad is the Hox gene that determines the development of the fly's most posterior segment. cad acts in combination with the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway to specify the different components of the analia: the activities of cad and of the Hh pathway induce Distal-less expression that, together with cad, promote external analia development. In the absence of the Hh pathway, cad induces internal analia development, probably by activating the brachyenteron and even-skipped genes.     

A major difference between transdetermination and homeosis

IN Drosophila, the adult structures arise from nests of larval cells called imaginal disks, whose state of determination with respect to disk type is usually fixed. However, two processes are known which can change determination from one disk type to another; one occurs in situ and is due to homeotic mutations, and the other is seen after culture of disk material and is called transdetermination. Similarities between the two, notably the lack of intermediate states, have led to the idea that they are different aspects of the same phenomenon(1,2). The existence of homeotic mutations argues that determination in normal development is underlain by a genetic switching mechanism(3,4); transdetermination could result from epigenetic changes in this system. If this is so then the two phenomena should have characteristics in common. Studies of homeotic mutants have shown that a structure in one disk is always transformed into a specific structure from the other disk(5,6); for example clones of bithorax in an anterior dorsal position in the haltere show anterior dorsal wing structures(5). This is used as a criterion of homology, and also indicates that all disks use the same positional information(7). Differences between disks must be due to different interpretation of this information, mediated in some way by the wild-type alleles of the homeotic genes. It is not yet known whether transdetermination also shows position-specific transformation; if the two phenomena are closely related then this should be the case. It is often assumed to be so, because there have been reports of transdetermination between leg and antenna in which structures such as claw and arista, thought from homeotic mutants to be homologous, are found adjacent to one another in implants(1). However, these findings could also be explained by non-homologous transdetermination followed by either movement together of homologous structures due to preferential cell affinities, or intercalary regeneration between the non-homologous structures. Also, regeneration before transdetermination can give misleading results. One cannot simply ask to what structures a given disk fragment will transdetermine as the fragment might regenerate the rest of the disk first, and non-regenerating (that is duplicating) fragments do not appear to transdetermine (unpublished observations, and ref. 8). One solution to these problems is to find a disk in which transdetermination occurs only in one part, and this is the case in the foreleg disk. The experiments reported here were designed to find whether this part transdetermines to a homologous part of the wing disk.     

Conversion by retinoic acid of anterior cells into ZPA cells in the chick wing bud

In recent years there has been considerable interest in the role of retinoic acid (RA) in vertebrate-limb pattern formation. When RA is applied to the anterior of the chick wing bud, a mirror-image duplication of the limb pattern develops that is identical to the pattern resulting from grafts of posterior tissue (zone of polarizing activity, or ZPA). It has been proposed that position along the anterior-posterior axis in the chick limb is specified by a gradient of a diffusible factor produced by the ZPA. The ZPA-mimicking action of RA has led to the hypothesis that exogenously applied RA acts by providing graded spatial information across the anterior-posterior limb axis. An alternative interpretation is that RA changes anterior cells into ZPA cells, which in turn provide the actual pattern-duplicating stimulus; there is already some preliminary evidence that this occurs. A hybrid interpretation has also been suggested whereby ZPA cells are formed in response to RA exposure and then begin to release retinoids that act as graded spatial cues. We have used a functional assay to test anterior chick wing-bud cells for ZPA activity after exposure to RA. The results of our studies indicate that the action of RA is to change anterior cells into ZPA cells. Further, our results indicate that it is unlikely that RA-treated anterior cells then begin producing RA in such a way as to provide a graded positional signal.     

Evidence that Hensen's node is a site of retinoic acid synthesis.

Hensen's node of amniotes, like the Spemann organizer of amphibians, can induce a second body axis when grafted into a host embryo. The avian node, as well as several midline structures originating from it (notochord, floor plate), can also induce digit pattern duplications when grafted into the chick wing bud. We report here that the equivalent of Hensen's node from mouse is an effective inducer of digits in the chick wing bud. Tissues anterior and posterior to the node also evoke pattern duplications, but with a significantly lower efficiency. The finding that the murine node operates in an avian wing bud suggests that the same inducing agent(s) function in both primary and secondary embryonic fields and have been conserved during vertebrate evolution. Digit pattern duplications are also evoked by local administration of all-trans-retinoic acid. This similarity raises the possibility that Hensen's node is a source of retinoic acid. The mouse node is capable of synthesizing retinoic acid from its biosynthetic precursor all-trans-retinol at a substantially higher rate than either anterior or posterior tissues.     

Directional non-cell autonomy and the transmission of polarity information by the frizzled gene of Drosophila

The function of the frizzled (fz) locus is required for the development of a parallel array of bristles and hairs on the adult cuticle of Drosophila melanogaster. Marked fz mitotic clones from five alleles were generated and examined in the wing. Three alleles have a non-cell-autonomous hair polarity phenotype; wild-type cells distal to fz clones produce hairs that have an abnormal polarity. In contrast, fz clones of the other two fz alleles examined do not disrupt the polarity of neighbouring cells. These data suggest that fz has two mutably separate functions in establishing hair polarity on the wing. One function involves the transmittance and/or generation of a polarity signal along the proximal-distal axis of the wing. The second function involves the cellular interpretation of a polarity signal.     

Dependence of Drosophila wing imaginal disc cytonemes on Decapentaplegic

The anterior/posterior (A/P) and dorsal/ventral (D/V) compartment borders that subdivide the wing imaginal discs of Drosophila third instar larvae are each associated with a developmental organizer. Decapentaplegic (Dpp), a member of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily, embodies the activity of the A/P organizer. It is produced at the A/P organizer and distributes in a gradient of decreasing concentration to regulate target genes, functioning non-autonomously to regulate growth and patterning of both the anterior and posterior compartments. Wingless (Wg) is produced at the D/V organizer and embodies its activity. The mechanisms that distribute Dpp and Wg are not known, but proposed mechanisms include extracellular diffusion, successive transfers between neighbouring cells, vesicle-mediated movement, and direct transfer via cytonemes. Cytonemes are actin-based filopodial extensions that have been found to orient towards the A/P organizer from outlying cells. Here we show that in the wing disc, cytonemes orient towards both the A/P and D/V organizers, and that their presence and orientation correlates with Dpp signalling. We also show that the Dpp receptor, Thickveins (Tkv), is present in punctae that move along cytonemes. These observations are consistent with a role for cytonemes in signal transduction.     

东方簇盾吸虫神经系统的研究

应用乙酰胆碱酯酶定位方法对东方簇盾吸虫(Lophotaspis orientalis Faust and Tang,1936)成虫的神经系统进行了研究.成虫的神经系统十分复杂,包括中枢神经结、脑神经联合、纵行的神经干、横向的神经连合.中枢神经结位于咽前部两侧,有1粗大的脑神经联合连接.在脑神经联合的下方有1个小的环形的结构.中枢神经结向前发出1对前背神经干和1对前侧神经干,这2对神经干向前的分支汇入围口腔的神经环.中枢神经结向后发出1对后背神经干和1对后腹神经干.后背神经干之间有横向的神经相连,在体末端与后腹神经干相汇合.后腹神经干最为粗大,并在虫体末端汇合,它在腹盘处有2对分支进入腹盘,前1对与腹盘边缘神经相连,后1对贯穿腹盘,其分支构成腹吸盘内复杂的神经网.腹吸盘的指状突起内也有神经分支.     

Homeotic transformation of the occipital bones of the skull by ectopic expression of a homeobox gene.

Murine Hox genes have been postulated to play a role in patterning of the embryonic body plan. Gene disruption studies have suggested that for a given Hox complex, patterning of cell identity along the antero-posterior axis is directed by the more 'posterior' (having a more posterior rostral boundary of expression) Hox proteins expressed in a given cell. This supports the 'posterior prevalence' model, which also predicts that ectopic expression of a given Hox gene would result in altered structure only in regions anterior to its normal domain of expression. To test this model further, we have expressed the Hox-4.2 gene more rostrally than its normal mesoderm anterior boundary of expression, which is at the level of the first cervical somites. This ectopic expression results in a homeotic transformation of the occipital bones towards a more posterior phenotype into structures that resemble cervical vertebrae, whereas it has no effect in regions that normally express Hox-4.2. These results are similar to the homeotic posteriorization phenomenon generated in Drosophila by ectopic expression of genes of the homeotic complex HOM-C (refs 7-10; reviewed in ref. 3).     

武夷山迷蚜蝇属一新种(双翅目:食蚜蝇科)

本文记述福建省武夷山的迷蚜蝇属一新种:黑腹迷蚜蝇Milesia nigriventris,sp.nov,模式标本保存于上海农学院昆虫标本室。     

广西博白新型盾皮鱼类骨片的发现

记述广西博白中泥盆世两件盾皮鱼类躯甲（中背片？）化石，其骨片狭长，前缘被覆压，侧缘后部覆压两侧的骨片而侧缘前部无覆压区，中腹突与中腹坑发育，纹饰为分布均匀且不连续的瘤突。该骨片与已知盾皮鱼类的中背片或后中背片均不相同，代表一新的属种：狭背博白ＩＢｏｂａｉｌｅｐｉｓ ａｎｇｕｓｔｉｄｏｒｓｌｉｓ ｇｅｎ．ｅｔ ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．），其分类位置     

驼背蚱Tetrix gibbosa形态特征描述

在湖北省应山市三潭风景区发现了蚱属昆虫驼背蚱Tetrix gibbosa.驼背蚱头顶前缘平直,前胸背板侧面观上缘球形隆起,后突到达后足股节2/3处,后翅短,仅达后足股节基部1/3处.标本保存于信阳师范学院生命科学学院.     

河南鲤科鱼类咽骨咽齿的比较研究(四)

<正> 本文记述鳊鱼亚科 Abramidinae 鱼类7属12种和亚种,现分述如下:鳊鲌亚科:咽骨一般狭长(鳊属、鲂属例外)。前角明显或不甚明显,后角圆钝。前肢与后肢约等长或略长或略短于后肢。骨长为骨宽的2.5～7.0倍(鳊属、鲂属为2.5～2.9倍)。体长为骨长的11.5～18.7倍。咽齿2～3列,左右数目常不对称,内列4～5齿,中列3～4齿,外列1～2齿,齿适度侧扁,齿面光滑无锯齿(似(鱼乔)具细弱的锯齿),先端钩曲,咀嚼面狭窄,微凹。     

Direct integration of Hox and segmentation gene inputs during Drosophila development

During Drosophila embryogenesis, segments, each with an anterior and posterior compartment, are generated by the segmentation genes while the Hox genes provide each segment with a unique identity. These two processes have been thought to occur independently. Here we show that abdominal Hox proteins work directly with two different segmentation proteins, Sloppy paired and Engrailed, to repress the Hox target gene Distalless in anterior and posterior compartments, respectively. These results suggest that segmentation proteins can function as Hox cofactors and reveal a previously unanticipated use of compartments for gene regulation by Hox proteins. Our results suggest that these two classes of proteins may collaborate to directly control gene expression at many downstream target genes.     

Retinoic acid induces polarizing activity but is unlikely to be a morphogen in the chick limb bud.

Retinoic acid is a putative morphogen in limb formation in the chick and other vertebrates. In chick limb formation, it is thought that retinoic acid is released from the zone of polarizing activity (ZPA) and the concentration gradient of retinoic acid formed from the posterior to the anterior provides positional cues for digit formation. Implantation of a bead containing retinoic acid at the anterior margin of the limb bud induces a mirror-image symmetrical duplication of the digit pattern similar to that observed when the ZPA is grafted into the anterior margin of the host limb bud. Also, the level of endogenous retinoic acid (25 nM on average) is higher in the posterior one third of the limb bud. We found that when the bead containing either retinoic acid or an analogue but not the ZPA, was implanted in the anterior margin of the chick limb bud, expression of the retinoic acid receptor type-beta gene was induced around the bead within 4 h. These results indicate that exogenous retinoic acid is not identical with the ZPA morphogen. As the anterior tissue exposed to retinoic acid has polarizing activity, we conclude that the primary function of exogenous retinoic acid is to induce polarizing activity in the limb bud.