Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A conserved system for dorsal-ventral patterning in insects and vertebrates involving sog and chordin

  • Letter
  • Published:

From Nature

View current issue Submit your manuscript

Abstract

DORSAL-VENTRAL patterning within the ectoderm of the Drosophila embryo requires seven zygotic genes, including short gastrulation (sog)1. Here we demonstrate that sog, which is expressed in the ventrolateral region of the embryo that gives rise to the nerve cord2, is functionally homologous to the chordin gene of Xenopus, which is expressed in the dorsal blastopore lip of the embryo and in dorsal mesoderm, in particular the notochord3. We show by injections of messenger RNA that both sog and chordin can promote ventral development in Drosophila, and that sog, like chordin3, can promote dorsal development in Xenopus. In Drosophila, sog antagonizes the dorsalizing effects of decapentaplegic (dpp)1,2,4, a member of the transforming growth factor-β family. One of the dpp homologues in vertebrates, bmp-4, is expressed ventrally in Xenopus5 and promotes ventral development6,7. We show that dpp can promote ventral fates in Xenopus, and that injection of sog mRNA counteracts the ventralizing effects of dpp. These results suggest the molecular conservation of dorsoventral patterning mechanisms during evolution.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ferguson, E. L. & Anderson, K. V. Development 114, 583–597 (1992).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. François, V., Solloway, M., O'Neill, J. W., Emery, J. & Bier, E. Genes Dev. 8, 2602–2616 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Sasai, Y. et al. Cell 79, 779–790 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Wharton, K. A., Ray, R. P. & Gelbart, W. M. Development 117, 807–822 (1993).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Fainsod, A., Steinbeisser, H. & De Robertis, E. M. EMBO J. 13, 5015–5025 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Dale, L., Howes, G., Price, B. M. & Smith, J. C. Development 115, 573–585 (1992).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Jones, C. M., Lyons, K. M., Lapan, P. M., Wright, C. V. E. & Hogan, B. L. M. Development 115, 639–647 (1992).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Seeger, M., Tear, G., Ferres-Marco, D. & Goodman, C. S. Neuron 10, 409–426 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Roth, S., Stein, D. & Nüsslein-Volhard, C. Cell 59, 1189–1202 (1989).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Anderson, K. V., Jürgens, G. & Nüsslein-Volhard, C. Cell 42, 779–789 (1985).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. François, V. & Bier, E. Cell 80, 19–20 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Spemann, H. & Mangold, H. Wilhelm Roux Arch. Entw. mech. 100, 599–638 (1924).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Stewart, R. & Gerhart, J. Wilhelm Roux Arch. dev. Biol. 199, 341–348 (1991).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, E. Mem. Mus. Hist. Nat. 9, 89–119 (1822).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Arendt, D. & Nübler-Jung, K. Nature 371, 26 (1994).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Lacalli, T. C. Nature 373, 110–111 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Peterson, K. J. Nature 373, 112–112 (1995).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. Ferguson, E. L. & Anderson, K. V. Cell 71, 451–461 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Liang, P. & Pardee, A. B. Science 257, 967–971 (1992).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Zusman, S. B., Sweeton, D. & Wiechaus, E. F. Devl. Biol. 129, 417–427 (1988).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Tamkun, J. W. et al. Cell. 68, 561–572 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Brown, N. H. & Kafatos, F. C. J. molec. Biol. 203, 425–437 (1988).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Amaya, E., Musci, T. J. & Kirschner, M. W. Cell 66, 257–270 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Schneider, D. S., Hudson, K. L., Lin, T.-Y. & Anderson, K. V. Genes Dev. 5, 797–807 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Chicago, 920 East 58th Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60637, USA

    Scott A. Holley & Edwin L. Ferguson

  2. McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research and Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA

    P. David Jackson & F. Michael Hoffmann

  3. Department of Biological Chemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, California, 90024, USA

    Yoshiki Sasai, Bin Lu & Eddy M. De Robertis

Authors
  1. Scott A. Holley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. P. David Jackson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yoshiki Sasai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Bin Lu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Eddy M. De Robertis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. F. Michael Hoffmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Edwin L. Ferguson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Holley, S., Jackson, P., Sasai, Y. et al. A conserved system for dorsal-ventral patterning in insects and vertebrates involving sog and chordin. Nature 376, 249–253 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/376249a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/376249a0

  • Springer Nature Limited

This article is cited by

Search

Navigation