Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Short Report
  • Published:

Ventral neuroblasts and the Heartless FGF receptor are required for muscle founder cell specification in Drosophila

Oncogene volume 18, pages 6818–6823 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Muscle founder cells are uniquely specified cells that fuse with neighboring myoblasts to generate the complex pattern of body wall muscles in the Drosophila embryo. We have investigated the positional specification of founder cells for ventral oblique muscles, marked by the restricted expression of tinman RNA and the activity of a D-mef2 enhancer. The formation of these ventral myoblasts requires the function of the Heartless FGF receptor in the mesoderm and the presence of ventral neuroblasts in the central nervous system. Overproduction of ventral neuroblasts due to the forced expression of the homeodomain protein Vnd leads to increased numbers of founder cells. These results suggest the use of a neuroectoderm-to-mesoderm signaling pathway in the specification of ventral muscle precursors.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Azpiazu N and Frasch M. . 1993 Genes Dev. 7: 1325–1340.

  • Baker R and Schubiger G. . 1995 Development 121: 1387–1398.

  • Bate M. . 1993 In: Bate M and Martinez Arias A. (eds). The Development of Drosophila Melanogaster. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press: Plainview, NY. pp. 1013–1090.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bate M and Baylies M. . 1996 Semin. Cell Dev. Biol. 7: 103–111.

  • Baylies MK and Bate M. . 1996 Science 272: 1481–1484.

  • Baylies MK, Bate M and Gomez MR. . 1998 Cell 93: 921–927.

  • Baylies MK, Martinez Arias A and Bate M. . 1995 Development 121: 3829–3837.

  • Beiman M, Shilo B-Z and Volk T. . 1996 Genes Dev. 10: 2993–3002.

  • Bodmer R. . 1993 Development 118: 719–729.

  • Brand AH and Perrimon N. . 1993 Development 118: 401–415.

  • Buff E, Carmena A, Gisselbrecht S, Jimenez F and Michelson AM. . 1998 Development 125: 2075–2086.

  • Chu H, Parras C, White K and Jimenez F. . 1998 Genes Dev. 12: 3613–3624.

  • Frasch M. . 1995 Nature 374: 464–467.

  • Gajewski K, Kim Y, Choi CY and Schulz RA. . 1998 Dev Genes Evol. 208: 382–392.

  • Gajewski K, Kim Y, Lee YM, Olson EN and Schulz RA. . 1997 EMBO J. 16: 515–522.

  • Gisselbrecht S, Skeath JB, Doe CQ and Michelson AM. . 1996 Genes Dev. 10: 3003–3017.

  • Grass S, Arnold H-H and Braun T. . 1996 Development 122: 141–150.

  • Hilliker AJ, Clark SH, Gelbart WH and Chovnick A. . 1981 Dros. Inf. Serv. 56: 65–72.

  • Ingham PW and Jowlett T. . 1997 In: Crampton JM, Beard CB and Louis C . (eds). The Molecular Biology of Insect Disease Vectors: A Methods Manual. Chapman and Hall: London pp. 268–282.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jimenez F and Campos-Ortega JA. . 1990 Neuron 5: 81–89.

  • Lewis JO and Crews ST. . 1994 Mech. Dev. 48: 81–91.

  • Lilly B, Zhao B, Ranganayakulu G, Paterson BM, Schulz RA and Olson EN. . 1995 Science 267: 688–693.

  • McDonald JA, Holbrook S, Isshiki T, Weiss J, Doe CQ and Mellerick DM. . 1998 Genes Dev. 12: 3603–3612.

  • Michelson AM, Gisselbrecht S, Zhou Y, Baek K-H and Buff EM. . 1998 Dev. Genet. 22: 212–229.

  • Nambu JR, Franks RG, Hu S and Crews ST. . 1990 Cell 63: 63–75.

  • Nguyen HT and Xu X. . 1998 Dev. Biol. 204: 550–566.

  • Ranganayakulu G, Schulz RA and Olson EN. . 1996 Dev. Biol. 176: 143–148.

  • Reichman-Fried M, Dickson B, Hafen E and Shilo B-Z. . 1994 Genes Dev. 8: 428–439.

  • Reichman-Fried M and Shilo B-Z. . 1995 Mech. Dev. 52: 265–273.

  • Rushton E, Drysdale R, Abmayr S, Michelson A and Bate M. . 1995 Development 121: 1979–1988.

  • Shishido E, Ono N, Kojima T and Saigo K. . 1997 Development 124: 2119–2128.

  • Sutherland D, Samakovlis C and Krasnow MA. . 1996 Cell 87: 1091–1101.

  • Volk T and VijayRaghavan K. . 1994 Development 120: 59–70.

  • Xu X, Yin Z, Hudson JB, Ferguson EL and Frasch M. . 1998 Genes Dev. 12: 2354–2370.

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Y Kim for providing the tin cDNA clone, M Baylies, A Michelson, J Weiss, K White and the Bloomington Stock Center for sending fly strains, and B Paterson and the Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank for providing antibodies. We also thank G Kovalick for advice on the in situ hybridization technique and K Hensley for assistance with figures. This research was supported by grants from the Muscular Dystrophy Association, National Institutes of Health (HL59151), and National Science Foundation (IBN 9722863) to RA Schulz.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, 77030, Texas, TX, USA

    Robert A Schulz & Kathleen Gajewski

Authors
  1. Robert A Schulz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kathleen Gajewski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schulz, R., Gajewski, K. Ventral neuroblasts and the Heartless FGF receptor are required for muscle founder cell specification in Drosophila. Oncogene 18, 6818–6823 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1203081

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1203081

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links