TY - JOUR
T1 - A biological timer in the fat body comprising blimp-1, βftz-f1 and shade regulates pupation timing in Drosophila melanogaster
AU - Akagi, Kazutaka
AU - Sarhan, Moustafa
AU - Sultan, Abdel Rahman S.
AU - Nishida, Haruka
AU - Koie, Azusa
AU - Nakayama, Takumi
AU - Ueda, Hitoshi
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was partially supported by Grants in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. A. S. was supported by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture Sports, Science and Technology [20570204, 25440110]. M. S. was supported by Cultural Affairs and Missions Sector, Ministry of Higher Education, Egyptian government and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.
PY - 2016/7/1
Y1 - 2016/7/1
N2 - During the development of multicellular organisms, many events occur with precise timing. In Drosophila melanogaster, pupation occurs about 12 h after puparium formation and its timing is believed to be determined by the release of a steroid hormone, ecdysone (E), from the prothoracic gland. Here, we demonstrate that the ecdysone- 20-monooxygenase Shade determines pupation timing by converting E to 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) in the fat body, which is the organ that senses nutritional status. The timing of shade expression is determined by its transcriptional activator βFtz-f1. The βftz-f1 gene is activated after a decline in the expression of its transcriptional repressor Blimp-1, which is temporally expressed around puparium formation in response to a high titer of 20E. The expression level and stability of Blimp-1 is critical for the precise timing of pupation. Thus, we propose that Blimp-1 molecules function like sand in an hourglass in this precise developmental timer system. Furthermore, our data suggest that a biological advantage results from both the use of a transcriptional repressor for time determination and the association of developmental timing with nutritional status of the organism.
AB - During the development of multicellular organisms, many events occur with precise timing. In Drosophila melanogaster, pupation occurs about 12 h after puparium formation and its timing is believed to be determined by the release of a steroid hormone, ecdysone (E), from the prothoracic gland. Here, we demonstrate that the ecdysone- 20-monooxygenase Shade determines pupation timing by converting E to 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) in the fat body, which is the organ that senses nutritional status. The timing of shade expression is determined by its transcriptional activator βFtz-f1. The βftz-f1 gene is activated after a decline in the expression of its transcriptional repressor Blimp-1, which is temporally expressed around puparium formation in response to a high titer of 20E. The expression level and stability of Blimp-1 is critical for the precise timing of pupation. Thus, we propose that Blimp-1 molecules function like sand in an hourglass in this precise developmental timer system. Furthermore, our data suggest that a biological advantage results from both the use of a transcriptional repressor for time determination and the association of developmental timing with nutritional status of the organism.
KW - Biological timer
KW - Developmental timing
KW - Drosophila
KW - Ecdysone
KW - Metamorphosis
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U2 - 10.1242/dev.133595
DO - 10.1242/dev.133595
M3 - Article
C2 - 27226323
AN - SCOPUS:84977117589
VL - 143
SP - 2410
EP - 2416
JO - Journal of Embryology and Experimental Morphology
JF - Journal of Embryology and Experimental Morphology
SN - 0950-1991
IS - 13
ER -