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Characterisation of the role and regulation of Ultrabithorax in sculpting fine-scale leg morphology

Hox genes are expressed during embryogenesis and determine the regional identity of animal bodies along the antero-posterior axis. However, they also function post-embryonically to sculpt fine-scale morphology. To better understand how Hox genes are integrated into post-embryonic gene regulatory net...

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Autores principales: Buffry, Alexandra D., Kittelmann, Sebastian, McGregor, Alistair P.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9968978/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36861038
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2023.1119221
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author Buffry, Alexandra D.
Kittelmann, Sebastian
McGregor, Alistair P.
author_facet Buffry, Alexandra D.
Kittelmann, Sebastian
McGregor, Alistair P.
author_sort Buffry, Alexandra D.
collection PubMed
description Hox genes are expressed during embryogenesis and determine the regional identity of animal bodies along the antero-posterior axis. However, they also function post-embryonically to sculpt fine-scale morphology. To better understand how Hox genes are integrated into post-embryonic gene regulatory networks, we further analysed the role and regulation of Ultrabithorax (Ubx) during leg development in Drosophila melanogaster. Ubx regulates several aspects of bristle and trichome patterning on the femurs of the second (T2) and third (T3) leg pairs. We found that repression of trichomes in the proximal posterior region of the T2 femur by Ubx is likely mediated by activation of the expression of microRNA-92a and microRNA-92b by this Hox protein. Furthermore, we identified a novel enhancer of Ubx that recapitulates the temporal and regional activity of this gene in T2 and T3 legs. We then used transcription factor (TF) binding motif analysis in regions of accessible chromatin in T2 leg cells to predict and functionally test TFs that may regulate the Ubx leg enhancer. We also tested the role of the Ubx co-factors Homothorax (Hth) and Extradenticle (Exd) in T2 and T3 femurs. We found several TFs that may act upstream or in concert with Ubx to modulate trichome patterning along the proximo-distal axis of developing femurs and that the repression of trichomes also requires Hth and Exd. Taken together our results provide insights into how Ubx is integrated into a post-embryonic gene regulatory network to determine fine-scale leg morphology.
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spelling pubmed-99689782023-02-28 Characterisation of the role and regulation of Ultrabithorax in sculpting fine-scale leg morphology Buffry, Alexandra D. Kittelmann, Sebastian McGregor, Alistair P. Front Cell Dev Biol Cell and Developmental Biology Hox genes are expressed during embryogenesis and determine the regional identity of animal bodies along the antero-posterior axis. However, they also function post-embryonically to sculpt fine-scale morphology. To better understand how Hox genes are integrated into post-embryonic gene regulatory networks, we further analysed the role and regulation of Ultrabithorax (Ubx) during leg development in Drosophila melanogaster. Ubx regulates several aspects of bristle and trichome patterning on the femurs of the second (T2) and third (T3) leg pairs. We found that repression of trichomes in the proximal posterior region of the T2 femur by Ubx is likely mediated by activation of the expression of microRNA-92a and microRNA-92b by this Hox protein. Furthermore, we identified a novel enhancer of Ubx that recapitulates the temporal and regional activity of this gene in T2 and T3 legs. We then used transcription factor (TF) binding motif analysis in regions of accessible chromatin in T2 leg cells to predict and functionally test TFs that may regulate the Ubx leg enhancer. We also tested the role of the Ubx co-factors Homothorax (Hth) and Extradenticle (Exd) in T2 and T3 femurs. We found several TFs that may act upstream or in concert with Ubx to modulate trichome patterning along the proximo-distal axis of developing femurs and that the repression of trichomes also requires Hth and Exd. Taken together our results provide insights into how Ubx is integrated into a post-embryonic gene regulatory network to determine fine-scale leg morphology. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-02-13 /pmc/articles/PMC9968978/ /pubmed/36861038 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2023.1119221 Text en Copyright © 2023 Buffry, Kittelmann and McGregor. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Cell and Developmental Biology
Buffry, Alexandra D.
Kittelmann, Sebastian
McGregor, Alistair P.
Characterisation of the role and regulation of Ultrabithorax in sculpting fine-scale leg morphology
title Characterisation of the role and regulation of Ultrabithorax in sculpting fine-scale leg morphology
title_full Characterisation of the role and regulation of Ultrabithorax in sculpting fine-scale leg morphology
title_fullStr Characterisation of the role and regulation of Ultrabithorax in sculpting fine-scale leg morphology
title_full_unstemmed Characterisation of the role and regulation of Ultrabithorax in sculpting fine-scale leg morphology
title_short Characterisation of the role and regulation of Ultrabithorax in sculpting fine-scale leg morphology
title_sort characterisation of the role and regulation of ultrabithorax in sculpting fine-scale leg morphology
topic Cell and Developmental Biology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9968978/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36861038
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2023.1119221
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