Enhancer analysis of the Drosophila zinc finger transcription factor Earmuff by gene targeting
Abstract Background Many transcription factors are involved in the formation of the brain during the development of Drosophila melanogaster. The transcription factor Earmuff (Erm), a member of the forebrain embryonic zinc finger family (Fezf), is one of these important factors for brain development....
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Hereditas |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s41065-021-00209-6 |
| _version_ | 1818838246096896000 |
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| author | Kirsten Hildebrandt Sabrina Kübel Marie Minet Nora Fürst Christine Klöppel Eva Steinmetz Uwe Walldorf |
| author_facet | Kirsten Hildebrandt Sabrina Kübel Marie Minet Nora Fürst Christine Klöppel Eva Steinmetz Uwe Walldorf |
| author_sort | Kirsten Hildebrandt |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Many transcription factors are involved in the formation of the brain during the development of Drosophila melanogaster. The transcription factor Earmuff (Erm), a member of the forebrain embryonic zinc finger family (Fezf), is one of these important factors for brain development. One major function of Earmuff is the regulation of proliferation within type II neuroblast lineages in the brain; here, Earmuff is expressed in intermediate neural progenitor cells (INPs) and balances neuronal differentiation versus stem cell maintenance. Erm expression during development is regulated by several enhancers. Results In this work we show a functional analysis of erm and some of its enhancers. We generated a new erm mutant allele by gene targeting and reintegrated Gal4 to make an erm enhancer trap strain that could also be used on an erm mutant background. The deletion of three of the previously analysed enhancers showing the most prominent expression patterns of erm by gene targeting resulted in specific temporal and spatial defects in defined brain structures. These defects were already known but here could be assigned to specific enhancer regions. Conclusion This analysis is to our knowledge the first systematic analysis of several large enhancer deletions of a Drosophila gene by gene targeting and will enable deeper analysis of erm enhancer functions in the future. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T03:35:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-676c2f54a7c9419c817bc9545dea54d6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1601-5223 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T03:35:20Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Hereditas |
| spelling | doaj.art-676c2f54a7c9419c817bc9545dea54d62022-12-21T20:37:25ZengBMCHereditas1601-52232021-11-01158111210.1186/s41065-021-00209-6Enhancer analysis of the Drosophila zinc finger transcription factor Earmuff by gene targetingKirsten Hildebrandt0Sabrina Kübel1Marie Minet2Nora Fürst3Christine Klöppel4Eva Steinmetz5Uwe Walldorf6Developmental Biology, Saarland UniversityDevelopmental Biology, Saarland UniversityDevelopmental Biology, Saarland UniversityDevelopmental Biology, Saarland UniversityDevelopmental Biology, Saarland UniversityDevelopmental Biology, Saarland UniversityDevelopmental Biology, Saarland UniversityAbstract Background Many transcription factors are involved in the formation of the brain during the development of Drosophila melanogaster. The transcription factor Earmuff (Erm), a member of the forebrain embryonic zinc finger family (Fezf), is one of these important factors for brain development. One major function of Earmuff is the regulation of proliferation within type II neuroblast lineages in the brain; here, Earmuff is expressed in intermediate neural progenitor cells (INPs) and balances neuronal differentiation versus stem cell maintenance. Erm expression during development is regulated by several enhancers. Results In this work we show a functional analysis of erm and some of its enhancers. We generated a new erm mutant allele by gene targeting and reintegrated Gal4 to make an erm enhancer trap strain that could also be used on an erm mutant background. The deletion of three of the previously analysed enhancers showing the most prominent expression patterns of erm by gene targeting resulted in specific temporal and spatial defects in defined brain structures. These defects were already known but here could be assigned to specific enhancer regions. Conclusion This analysis is to our knowledge the first systematic analysis of several large enhancer deletions of a Drosophila gene by gene targeting and will enable deeper analysis of erm enhancer functions in the future.https://doi.org/10.1186/s41065-021-00209-6Earmuff (Erm)Transcription factorEnhancerGene targeting |
| spellingShingle | Kirsten Hildebrandt Sabrina Kübel Marie Minet Nora Fürst Christine Klöppel Eva Steinmetz Uwe Walldorf Enhancer analysis of the Drosophila zinc finger transcription factor Earmuff by gene targeting Hereditas Earmuff (Erm) Transcription factor Enhancer Gene targeting |
| title | Enhancer analysis of the Drosophila zinc finger transcription factor Earmuff by gene targeting |
| title_full | Enhancer analysis of the Drosophila zinc finger transcription factor Earmuff by gene targeting |
| title_fullStr | Enhancer analysis of the Drosophila zinc finger transcription factor Earmuff by gene targeting |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enhancer analysis of the Drosophila zinc finger transcription factor Earmuff by gene targeting |
| title_short | Enhancer analysis of the Drosophila zinc finger transcription factor Earmuff by gene targeting |
| title_sort | enhancer analysis of the drosophila zinc finger transcription factor earmuff by gene targeting |
| topic | Earmuff (Erm) Transcription factor Enhancer Gene targeting |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s41065-021-00209-6 |
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