Jf. De Celis, The function of vestigial in Drosophila wing development: how are tissue-specific responses to signalling pathways specified?, BIOESSAYS, 21(7), 1999, pp. 542-545
The activities of conserved signal transduction pathways are central to the
development of Drosophila wings, legs, and eyes. Yet, all these structures
have characteristic morphologies, suggesting that additional factors provi
de organ-specific information. One excellent candidate for such a function
is Vestigial, which activity promotes the formation of wings. The biochemic
al function of Vestigial is unknown, however, since no homologies with othe
r proteins have been identified. Two recent reports show that Vestigial int
eracts with the transcription factor Scalloped,((1,2)) forming an active co
mplex that binds to specific DNA sequences and regulates gene expression in
cooperation with several signalling pathways.((3)) These results illustrat
e how tissue-specific transcription factors cooperate with general signalli
ng pathways to regulate gene expression in a tissue-specific manner. (C) 19
99 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.