scholarly journals Laminin Is Required for Heart, Somatic Muscles, and Gut Development in the Drosophila Embryo

1995 ◽  
Vol 169 (2) ◽  
pp. 609-618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Talia Yarnitzky ◽  
Talila Volk
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Embryo ◽  
Gut Development ◽  
Somatic Muscles

scholarly journals A distinct set of founders and fusion-competent myoblasts make visceral muscles in the Drosophila embryo

Development ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 128 (17) ◽  
pp. 3331-3338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz San Martin ◽  
Mar Ruiz-Gómez ◽  
Matthias Landgraf ◽  
Michael Bate
Keyword(s):  
Myoblast Fusion ◽  
Drosophila Embryo ◽  
Visceral Muscle ◽  
Visceral Muscles ◽  
Fusion Competent Myoblasts ◽  
Longitudinal Muscles ◽  
Two Populations ◽  
Somatic Muscles

The embryonic Drosophila midgut is enclosed by a latticework of longitudinal and circular visceral muscles. We find that these muscles are syncytial. Like the somatic muscles they are generated by the prior segregation of two populations of cells: fusion-competent myoblasts and founder myoblasts specialised to seed the formation of particular muscles. Visceral muscle founders are of two classes: those that seed circular muscles and those that seed longitudinal muscles. These specialisations are revealed in mutant embryos where myoblast fusion fails. In the absence of fusion, founders make mononucleate circular or longitudinal fibres, while their fusion-competent neighbours remain undifferentiated.

Anterior-posterior subdivision and the diversification of the mesoderm in Drosophila

Development ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 121 (12) ◽  
pp. 4183-4193 ◽  
Author(s):  
O.M. Borkowski ◽  
N.H. Brown ◽  
M. Bate
Keyword(s):  
Progenitor Cell ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Surface Protein ◽  
Drosophila Embryo ◽  
Visceral Mesoderm ◽  
Internal Cell ◽  
Visceral Muscles ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Anterior Posterior ◽  
Somatic Muscles

We have used a novel cell marker, in which the twist promoter directs the synthesis of the cell surface protein CD2 (twi-CD2) to examine the development of the mesoderm in the Drosophila embryo after gastrulation and to locate the progenitor cell populations for different mesodermal derivatives. We find that the early mesoderm in each segment is divided into a more anterior region with relatively low levels of twist and twi-CD2 expression and a more posterior region where twist and twi-CD2 expression are high. This subdivision coincides with regional assignments of cells to form different progenitors: dorsal anterior cells invaginate to form an internal layer from which the visceral mesoderm is derived. Ventral anterior cells form progenitors of mesodermal glial cells. Dorsal posterior cells form heart. Ventral and dorsal posterior cells form somatic muscles. We conclude that the metamerically repeated anterior-posterior subdivision of the mesoderm is an essential element in laying out the pattern of mesodermal progenitor cells and in distinguishing between an internal cell layer which will give rise to the progenitors of visceral muscles and an external layer which will generate the somatic muscles and the heart.

Role of caudal in hindgut specification and gastrulation suggests homology between Drosophila amnioproctodeal invagination and vertebrate blastopore

Development ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 125 (13) ◽  
pp. 2433-2442 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.H. Wu ◽  
J.A. Lengyel
Keyword(s):  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Early Embryogenesis ◽  
Drosophila Embryo ◽  
Gut Development ◽  
Homeodomain Transcription Factor ◽  
Fork Head

During early embryogenesis in Drosophila, caudal mRNA is distributed as a gradient with its highest level at the posterior of the embryo. This suggests that the Caudal homeodomain transcription factor might play a role in establishing the posterior domains of the embryo that undergo gastrulation and give rise to the posterior gut. By generating embryos lacking both the maternal and zygotic mRNA contribution, we show that caudal is essential for invagination of the hindgut primordium and for further specification and development of the hindgut. These effects are achieved by the function of caudal in activating different target genes, namely folded gastrulation, which is required for invagination of the posterior gut primordium, and fork head and wingless, which are required to promote development of the internalized hindgut primordium. caudal is not sufficient for hindgut gastrulation and development, however, as it does not play a significant role in activating expression of the genes tailless, huckebein, brachyenteron and bowel. We argue that caudal and other genes expressed at the posterior of the Drosophila embryo (fork head, brachyenteron and wingless) constitute a conserved constellation of genes that plays a required role in gastrulation and gut development.

Laser scanning confocal microscopic analysis of cytoskeletal and nuclear reorganization in live Drosophila embryos

1993 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 174-175
Author(s):  
William Theurkauf
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Microscopic Analysis ◽  
Large Cell ◽  
Early Embryo ◽  
Drosophila Embryo ◽  
Cortical Actin ◽  
Nuclear Reorganization ◽  
Cytoskeletal Elements ◽  
Microtubule Structure ◽  
Drosophila Embryos

Cell division in eucaryotes depends on coordinated changes in nuclear and cytoskeletal components. In Drosophila melanogaster embryos, the first 13 nuclear divisions occur without cytokinesis. During the final four divisions, nuclei divide in a uniform monolayer at the surface of the embryo. These surface divisions are accompanied by dramatic changes in cortical actin and microtubule structure (Karr and Alberts, 1986), and inhibitor studies indicate that these changes are essential to orderly mitosis (Zalokar and Erk, 1976). Because the early embryo is syncytial, fluorescent probes introduced by microinjection are incorporated in structures associated with all of the nuclei in the blastoderm. In addition, the nuclei divide synchronously every 10 to 20 min. These characteristics make the syncytial blastoderm embryo an excellent system for the analysis of mitotic reorganization of both nuclear and cytoskeletal elements. However, the Drosophila embryo is a large cell, and resolution of cytoskeletal filaments and nuclear structure is hampered by out-of focus signal.

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