T. Gutjahr et al., ANALYSIS OF THE GOOSEBERRY LOCUS IN DROSOPHILA EMBRYOS - GOOSEBERRY DETERMINES THE CUTICULAR PATTERN AND ACTIVATES GOOSEBERRY-NEURO, Development, 118(1), 1993, pp. 21-31
The segment-polarity class of segmentation genes in Drosophila are pri
marily involved in the specification of sub-segmental units. In additi
on, some of the segment-polarity genes have been shown to specify cell
fates within the central nervous system. One of these loci, gooseberr
y, consists of two divergently transcribed genes, gooseberry and goose
berry neuro, which share a paired box as well as a paired-type homeobo
x. Here, the expression patterns of the two gooseberry gene products a
re described in detail. The gooseberry protein appears in a characteri
stic segment-polarity pattern of stripes at gastrulation and persists
until head involution. It is initially restricted to the ectodermal an
d neuroectodermal germ layer, but is later detected in mesodermal and
neuronal cells as well. The gooseberry neuro protein first appears dur
ing germ band extension in cells of the central nervous system and als
o, much later, in epidermal stripes and in a small Dumber of muscle ce
lls. P-element-mediated transformation with the gooseberry gene has be
en used to demonstrate that gooseberry transactivates gooseberry neuro
and is sufficient to rescue the gooseberry cuticular phenotype in the
absence of gooseberry neuro.