Identification of cis -regulatory modules responding to positional cues regulating the patterned expression of the Drosophila follicle cell fate determinants mid and mirr
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Using the patterning of the follicular epithelium of the Drosophila ovary as a model, we study how cells perceive spatial cues and how this information is interpreted by cis -regulatory regions of their downstream target genes. During oogenesis, the oocyte secretes an inductive signal, Gurken (Grk), that activates the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) within the overlying follicular epithelium. Grk/EGFR signaling outcome is context-dependent. At the posterior, Grk signals in the presence of the JAK/STAT pathway ligand Unpaired, inducing the posterior fate determinants midline (mid) and H15. At the anterior, in the presence of the BMP pathway ligand Dpp, Grk induces the dorsal anterior determinant mirror (mirr) . The choice between these targets is reinforced by mutual repression between Mid/H15 and Mirr, and by repression of mirr by Upd and mid/H15 by Dpp. To ask how these positional cues are interpreted, we screened non-coding regions from the H15, mid and mirr loci for CRMs that drive expression in patterns resembling that of the endogenous genes. We identify two regions each from the mid and mirr loci, each reproducing distinct aspects of their endogenous expression and regulation. These data provide a simplified system for asking how these sequences respond to upstream spatial cues. Summary statement Screening of non-coding sequences near Drosophila follicle cell fate genes identified cis -regulatory modules that respond to different subsets of known regulatory inputs and reproduce different aspects of their expression patterns.
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7223474033