SD and VG proteins in drosophila development

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My research program aims at increasing our understanding of the functional interactions among genes that direct the development of complex organs in a eukaryote. The model system used is Drosophila and the approach is to do a genetic and molecular biological analysis of some of the specific genes involved in wing formation and how some of the same genes have broader roles in organogenesis in non-wing tissues. Past work in the laboratory concentrated on analysis of the role of the vestigial (vg) gene in wing development and how vg interacts functionally with the scalloped (sd) gene. The sd gene is vital, in that homozygous mutations may be lethal. It is known that sd is a member of a highly conserved family of transcriptions factors (the TEA/ATTS domain proteins) and, as such, has a fundamental role in Drosophila development whereas vg seems to be required only in the wing. A fusion gene has been produced which includes full length vg and the sdTEA domain (about 30% of SD) and when this protein is expressed it can rescue sd or vg mutations, and even sd, vg double mutations. Thus, the encoded protein behaves like the natural VG/SD complex in the context of wing development. Further, 70% of the SD protein is not required for wing formation even though SD is a vital protein. A significant aspect of this work is that the human TEF-1 gene is a homologue of sd and can actually rescue sd mutations when transformed into flies. Particular effort is now directed towards the function of sd in non-wing tissues. We have discovered protein binding partners for SD in muscle and nervous tissue and feel that the vital function of SD is involved in the development of these tissues. In fact, sd null mutant flies, which are lethal as homozygotes, do not develop a normal heart. We are also characterizing post-translational modifications that occur on the VG and SD proteins in attempts to elucidate how and when these proteins bind to each other, and in the case of SD to proteins in other tissues as well. The genes involved in Drosophila muscle development have vertebrate homologues. Hence, data gathered in this model system have a significant likelihood of helping us to understand the more complex vertebrate systems.