The Drosophila jing gene is a downstream target in the Trachealess/Tango tracheal pathway

Dev Genes Evol. 2010 Dec;220(7-8):191-206. doi: 10.1007/s00427-010-0339-z.

Abstract

Primary branching in the Drosophila trachea is regulated by the Trachealess (Trh) and Tango (Tgo) basic helix-loop-helix-PAS (bHLH-PAS) heterodimers, the POU protein Drifter (Dfr)/Ventral Veinless (Vvl), and the Pointed (Pnt) ETS transcription factor. The jing gene encodes a zinc finger protein also required for tracheal development. Three Trh/Tgo DNA-binding sites, known as CNS midline elements, in 1.5 kb of jing 5′ cis-regulatory sequence (jing1.5) previously suggested a downstream role for jing in the pathway. Here, we show that jing is a direct downstream target of Trh/Tgo and that Vvl and Pnt are also involved in jing tracheal activation. In vivo lacZ enhancer detection assays were used to identify cis-regulatory elements mediating embryonic expression patterns of jing. A 2.8-kb jing enhancer (jing2.8) drove lacZ expression in all tracheal cell lineages, the CNS midline and Engrailed-positive segmental stripes, mimicking endogenous jing expression. A 1.3-kb element within jing2.8 drove expression that was restricted to Engrailed-positive CNS midline cells and segmental ectodermal stripes. Surprisingly, jing1.5-lacZ expression was restricted to tracheal fusion cells despite the presence of consensus DNA-binding sites for bHLH-PAS, ETS, and POU domain transcription factors. Given the absence of Trh/Tgo DNA-binding sites in the jing1.3 enhancer, these results are consistent with previous observations suggesting a combinatorial basis to Trh-/Tgo-mediated transcriptional regulation in the trachea.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Nuclear Translocator / metabolism
  • Base Sequence
  • Central Nervous System / metabolism
  • Drosophila Proteins / metabolism*
  • Drosophila melanogaster / embryology*
  • Drosophila melanogaster / genetics*
  • Drosophila melanogaster / metabolism
  • Enhancer Elements, Genetic*
  • Genes, Reporter
  • Homeodomain Proteins / metabolism
  • Lac Operon
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Nuclear Proteins / metabolism*
  • Signal Transduction*
  • Trachea / embryology
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism*

Substances

  • Drosophila Proteins
  • En protein, Drosophila
  • Homeodomain Proteins
  • JING protein, Drosophila
  • Nuclear Proteins
  • Transcription Factors
  • tgo protein, Drosophila
  • trh protein, Drosophila
  • Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Nuclear Translocator