Cell
Volume 69, Issue 1, 3 April 1992, Pages 159-172
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Article
The paired box gene pox neuro: A determiant of poly-innervated sense organs in Drosophila

https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(92)90127-XGet rights and content

Abstract

This study describes the structure and function of pox neuro (poxn), a gene previously isolated by virtue of a conserved domain, the paired box, which it shares with the segmentation genes paired and gooseberry. Its expression pattern has been analyzed, particularly during development of the PNS. We propose that poxn is a “neuroblast identity” gene acting in both the PNS and the CNS on the basis of the following evidence. Its expression is restricted to four neuronal precursors in each hemisegment: two neuronal stem cells (neuroblasts) in the CNS, and two sensory mother cells (SMCs) in the PNS. The SMCs that express poxn produce the poly-innervated external sense organs of the larva. In poxn embryos, poly-innervated sense organs are transformed into mono-innervated. Conversely, ectopic expression of poxn in embryos transformed with a heat-inducible poxn gene can switch mono-innervated to poly-innervated sense organs. Expression of poxn in the wing disc is restricted to the SMCs of the poly-innervated sense organs, suggesting that poxn also determines the lineage of poly-innervated adult sense organs.

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    §

    Present address: Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes, CNRS, 67084 Strasbourg, France.

    Present address: Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08540.

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    Present address: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032.

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