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Developmental biology

Shaping gradients

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 2, page 86 (2001)Cite this article

The adult wing of Drosophila develops from a specific imaginal disc — one of several groups of cells set aside during larval development that give rise to adult structures. The dpp gene is expressed in a central stripe in the wing disc and produces a gradient of DPP signalling away from the stripe, in both directions. The two new studies, by Entchev et al., and Teleman and Cohen, have used a version of DPP tagged with GFP and show, for the first time, that DPP protein is indeed present in a concentration gradient — high in the stripe and low at the edges of the disc. Using different genetic tricks, both studies also show that the DPP gradient can form rapidly, and that gradient formation must be regulated during development. At that point, the two studies diverge.

Entchev et al. show that the formation of the DPP gradient does not occur by passive diffusion outwards from the central stripe. Instead, a variety of mutants that affect endocytosis and intracellular vesicle transport, including shi ts1 , show that DPP is internalized by endocytosis, and is then either degraded or recycled and transported out of the cell. A certain amount of DPP is degraded as it passes through each cell, so the concentration of DPP diminishes with distance from the source. The relative levels of DPP degradation and recycling will influence the shape of the DPP gradient and, as Entchev et al. point out, this provides a means to alter the shape and size of the resultant adult structure.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPERS

  1. Teleman, A. & Cohen, S. M. Dpp gradient formation in the Drosophila wing imaginal disc. Cell 103, 971–980 (2000)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Entchev, E. V. et al. Gradient formation of the TGF-β homolog Dpp. Cell 103, 981–991 (2000)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

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Authors
  1. Mark Patterson
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Patterson, M. Shaping gradients. Nat Rev Genet 2, 86 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35052530

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