Integration of appendage and Hox networks during Drosophila development

North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC

Investigators

Abstract

Understanding the genetic control of animal body patterning is the long-term goal of the Mahaffey laboratory. Hox genes are master regulators of body pattern, specifying anterior-posterior anatomical structures along the body axis of all animals. The Hox genes encode transcription factors that activate downstream genes required for proper embryonic development along the anterior-posterior body axis. However, it is not clear how specific Hox proteins regulate distinct downstream genes because they all bind to similar DNA sequences in their target genes. Likewise, it is not clear how such highly conserved factors generate the diversity of animal body forms observed throughout nature. What is clear is that these genes specify similar body parts in diverse species and also contribute to developmental defects and cancers when miss-expressed in the wrong tissues. With this award, the Mahaffey lab will study how Hox proteins integrate with other transcription factors to specify body patterns, using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism. Drosophila has proved to be an excellent model for biomedical research. In their studies, the Mahaffey lab is taking a two-pronged approach. One relies on the extensive genetic tools developed in the fruit fly to discover molecular processes of developmental regulation by Hox genes. The other involves taking a less-standard, population genetics approach for systems biological studies. In this manner, they hope to extend what is known about the function of Hox proteins and how they integrate into the network of genes governing animal development. While medical relevance of this work has been mentioned above, this award will provide opportunities for undergraduate and even high school students, in addition to graduate students, to have an opportunity to participate in and learn about scientific research.