Transcriptional regulators of dendrite development

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Because dendrite development has not yet been extensively studied, a number of fundamental questions about dendrite development still need to be answered. The studies described below will focus on the following two questions: (1) What factors control the distinct morphology of a given class of dendrites? (2) Do distinct factors or signal transduction pathways regulate different aspects of dendrite development? Since transcription factors are likely regulators of multiple aspects of dendrite development and the Drosophila PNS is an attractive model system for genetic analysis of dendrite development I will study transcriptional regulation of dendrite development using Drosophila as a model system. Importantly, the Drosophila PNS is composed of multiple classes of neurons with distinct characteristic dendritic branching patterns so these studies should facilitate identification of factors which specify dendrite development in a cell type-specific fashion.