Novel functions of the Drosophila Hox gene Ultrabithorax in central nervous system development

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Understanding the morphological and functional diversity of the central nervous system (CNS), which allows fulfillment of diverse regional requirements for control of locomotion, feeding, respiration and reproduction, and how this diversity arises during development is one of the fundamental challenges in biology. Homeotic genes encode one important class of transcription factors that regulate cell diversity along the anterior-posterior body axis. However, the functions that these genes exert during development of the CNS are largely unknown. The fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster is a widely used model organism for research in developmental biology. In the proposed project, functions of the homeotic gene Ultrabithorax in differentiating neurons of the Drosophila embryonic CNS will be investigated by means of an RNAi-mediated knock-down of Ubx specifically in various subsets of differentiating neurons. In addition, potential Ubx interaction partners identified in a previously performed yeast-two-hybrid screen will be verified further and the significance of the interaction with Ubx for CNS development investigated.