Hox regulation of wingless expression sculpts morphogenesis of the adult Drosophila abdomen

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。约德实验室研究塑造动物形态的事件的遗传控制。动物身体的图案需要整合基因信号，这些信号聚集在发育中的身体的其他相似部位，赋予独特的身份。同样，性别特异性特征的发展依赖于基因调控，基因调控推动生物体最初相似的区域走上非常不同的道路。果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）的性别特异性特征为研究个体内部和两性之间最初相似的结构如何塑造成最终形式提供了极好的机会。重要的是，许多相同的基因模式的苍蝇是功能保守的所有动物。在模式生物（如果蝇）中研究这种发育过程，为人类发育遗传学和疾病研究提供了基础知识。Hox蛋白是转录因子，其调节许多靶基因的表达以使它们在其中表达的身体区域形成图案。Yoder实验室将研究一种Hox蛋白Abdominal-B如何控制成年果蝇部分的区域和性别特异性差异。同样的蛋白质是如何导致两性之间相邻组织和同一组织中靶基因的不同表达，最终产生区域性和性别特异性命运的？结合分子和遗传分析，Yoder实验室将剖析Abdominal-B，其他调节蛋白和DNA控制元件之间的相互作用，这些元件是区域和性别特异性身份关键基因的差异激活和抑制所必需的。这项工作将拓宽对基因调控中的细微差异如何导致大规模形式差异的理解。 该奖项将为一些本科生提供机会，除了研究生研究人员，参与科学研究，探索生物体发育的基本基础和遗传学。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The Yoder laboratory studies genetic control of events that shape animal form. Patterning animal bodies requires integration of genetic signals that converge on otherwise similarly fated parts of the developing body conferring unique identities. Likewise, development of sex-specific characters relies on gene regulation that propels initially similar regions of organisms down very different paths. Sex-specific characters of the adult fly Drosophila melanogaster afford an excellent opportunity to investigate how initially similar structures, both within an individual organism and between the sexes, are sculpted into their ultimate forms. Importantly, many of the same genes that pattern the fly are functionally conserved across all animals. Investigating such developmental processes in model organisms, like Drosophila, provides foundational knowledge for human developmental genetics and avenues into disease research. Hox proteins are transcription factors, proteins that regulate expression of numerous target genes to pattern the regions of the body in which they are expressed. The Yoder lab will investigate how one Hox protein, Abdominal-B, controls regional and sex-specific differences in the segments of the adult fly. How does the same protein lead to different expression of target genes in adjacent tissue and in the same tissue between the sexes, ultimately generating regional and sex-specific fates? Combining molecular and genetic analyses, the Yoder lab will dissect interactions between Abdominal-B, other regulatory proteins and DNA control elements necessary for differential activation and repression of genes critical for regional and sex specific identity. This work will broaden understanding of how subtle differences in gene regulation lead to large-scale differences in form. This award will provide opportunities for several undergraduate students, in addition to graduate researchers, to participate in scientific research and explore the fundamental basis and genetics of organismal development.