Abstract
Opposing anterior and posterior morphogen systems specify the segmented body pattern of Drosophila. The anterior morphogen, bicoid, exerts a direct instructive influence on head and thoracic pattern by triggering different outcomes according to changes in its concentration along the body. In contrast the posterior morphogen, nanos, simply defines where abdominal patterning can occur by eliminating an otherwise ubiquitous repressor, hunchback protein, from the posterior half of the embryo. Within this hunchback-free domain the pattern of abdominal segments must be specified by other morphogens, possibly by shorter range gradients of the products of zygotic gap genes Kruppel, knirps and tailless.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Frohnhöfer, H. G. & Nüsslein-Volhard, C. Nature 324, 120–125 (1986).
Lehmann, R. & Nüsslein-Volhard, C. Cell 47, 141–152 (1986).
Nüsslein-Volhard, C., Frohnhöfer, H. G. & Lehmann, R. Science 238, 1675–1681 (1987).
Frohnhöfer, H. G. & Nüsslein-Volhard, C. Genes Dev. 1, 880–890 (1987).
Tautz, D. Nature 332, 281–284 (1988).
Gaul, U. & Jäckle, H. Cell 51, 549–555 (1987).
Mlodzik, M. & Gehring, W. Development 101, 421–435 (1987).
Driever, W. & Nüsslein-Volhard, C. Cell 54, 95–104 (1988).
Struhl, G., Struhl, K. & Macdonald, P. M. Cell, submitted.
Sander, K. & Lehmann, R. Nature 335, 68–70 (1988).
Lehmann, R. Development 104 Suppl., 17–27 (1988).
Nüsslein-Volhard, C. & Wieschaus, C. Nature 287, 795–801 (1980).
Lehmann, R. & Nüsslein-Volhard, C. Devl Biol. 119, 402–417 (1987).
Bender, M., Turner, F. R. & Kaufman, T. C. Devl Biol. 119, 418–432 (1987).
Nauber, U. et al. Nature 336, 489–492 (1988).
Strecker, T. R., Kongsuwan, K., Lengyel, J. A. & Merriam, J. R. Devl Biol. 113, 64–71 (1986).
Tautz, D. et al. Nature 327, 383–389 (1987).
Schröder, C., Tautz, D., Seifert, E. & Jäckle, H. EMBO J. 7, 2881–2887 (1988).
Lis, J. T., Simon, J. A. & Sutton, C. A. Cell 35, 403–410 (1983).
Rubin, G. M. & Spradling, A. C. Science 218, 348–353 (1982).
Macdonald, P. M., Ingham, P. & Struhl, G. Cell 47, 721–734 (1986).
Frasch, M., Hoey, T., Rushlow, C., Doyle, H. & Levine, M. EMBO J. 6, 749–759 (1987).
Weischaus, E. & Szabad, J. Devl Biol. 68, 29–46 (1979).
Erdelyi, M. & Szabad, J. Genetics (in the press).
Schüpbach, T. Wieschaus, E. Wilhelm Roux's Arch. Dev. Biol. 195, 302–317.
Struhl, G. Cellular basis of morphogenesis (Ciba Foundation Symp. 144) 65–91 (Wiley, Chichester, 1989).
Ingham, P. Nature 335, 25–34 (1988).
Anderson, D. T. Developmental Systems: Insects Vol. 1 (Academic, London, 1972).
Struhl, G. Nature 318, 677–680 (1985).
Lawrence, P. A., Johnston, P., Macdonald, P. M. & Struhl, G. Nature 328, 440–442 (1987).
Rubin, G. M. & Spradling, A. C. Nucleic Acids Res. 11, 6341–6351 (1983).
Macdonald, P. M. & Struhl, G. Nature 324, 537–545 (1986).
Struhl, G. Nature 308, 454–457 (1984).
Lindsely, D. L. & Grell, E. L. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Publ. 627 (1968).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Struhl, G. Differing strategies for organizing anterior and posterior body pattern in Drosophila embryos. Nature 338, 741–744 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/338741a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/338741a0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Brain tumor is a sequence-specific RNA-binding protein that directs maternal mRNA clearance during the Drosophila maternal-to-zygotic transition
Genome Biology (2015)
-
The gap gene network
Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences (2011)
-
The opposing homeobox genes Goosecoid and Vent1/2 self-regulate Xenopus patterning
The EMBO Journal (2007)
-
Asexual Reproduction and Segmental Regeneration, but not Morphallaxis, are Inhibited by Boric Acid in Lumbriculus variegatus (Annelida: Clitellata: Lumbriculidae)
Hydrobiologia (2006)
-
Maternal Pumilio acts together with Nanos in germline development in Drosophila embryos
Nature Cell Biology (1999)