Dual role for Hox genes and Hox co-factors in conferring leg motoneuron survival and identity in Drosophila

Myungin Baek, Jonathan Enriquez, Richard S. Mann

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

51 Scopus citations

Abstract

Adult Drosophila walk using six multi-jointed legs, each controlled by ~50 leg motoneurons (MNs). Although MNs have stereotyped morphologies, little is known about how they are specified. Here, we describe the function of Hox genes and homothorax (hth), which encodes a Hox co-factor, in Drosophila leg MN development. Removing either Hox or Hth function from a single neuroblast (NB) lineage results in MN apoptosis. A single Hox gene, Antennapedia (Antp), is primarily responsible for MN survival in all three thoracic segments. When cell death is blocked, partially penetrant axon branching errors are observed in Hox mutant MNs. When single MNs are mutant, errors in both dendritic and axon arborizations are observed. Our data also suggest that Antp levels in postmitotic MNs are important for specifying their identities. Thus, in addition to being essential for survival, Hox and hth are required to specify accurate MN morphologies in a level-dependent manner.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2027-2038
Number of pages12
JournalDevelopment
Volume140
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 May 2013

Keywords

  • Cell death and survival
  • Drosophila melanogaster
  • Hox genes
  • Motoneurons
  • Neuroblasts

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Dual role for Hox genes and Hox co-factors in conferring leg motoneuron survival and identity in Drosophila'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this