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A dorsal/ventral boundary established by Notch controls growth and polarity in the Drosophila eye

Nature volume 396, pages 276–278 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

In the Drosophila compound eye the dorsal and ventral fields of eye units (ommatidia) meet along the dorsoventral midline, forming a line of mirror image symmetry called the equator1. The molecular mechanism establishing the equator is not fully understood, but it involves the transcription factors2 encoded by the Iroquois gene complex3. The Iroquois genes are expressed in the dorsal half of the eye2 and here we show that they regulate the expression of the secreted molecule Fringe. A boundary between fringe -expressing and fringe -non-expressing cells is essential, from the time of the second larval instar, for eye growth and formation of the equator. Boundaries of fringe expression determine where the transmembrane receptor Notch is activated4,5. We find that Notch is activated at the dorsoventral midline, where it is required to promote growth and set up the axis of mirror symmetry. As boundaries of fringe expression and Notch activation are also important during Drosophila wing formation6 and vertebrate somitogenesis7,8,9, we suggest that these boundaries constitute a general mechanism that directs growth and patterning of large fields of cells.

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Figure 1: Dorsoventral organization of the eye disc.
Figure 2: Consequences of modifying Notch activity in eye development.
Figure 3: Accumulation of Notch ligands and restriction of Notch activation.
Figure 4: Requirements for fringe during eye development.
Figure 5: Cell-lineage analysis in the eye disc.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Ashburner and P. Lawrence, in whose laboratories this work has been carried out; P. Aroca, S. Bray, K. Irvine, F. Diaz-Benjumea, J. Modolell and U. Walldorf for sharing different reagents and flies; and M. Freeman, P. A. Lawrence, S. Russell and members of our laboratories for critical reading of the manuscript. M. D. is supported by an EMBO fellowship and J.F.C. by a Wellcome Trust project grant.

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  1. MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, CB2 2QH, Cambridge, UK

    María Domínguez

  2. Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, CB2 3EH, Cambridge, UK

    Jose F. de Celis

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  1. María Domínguez
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  2. Jose F. de Celis
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Correspondence to Jose F. de Celis.

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Domínguez, M., Celis, J. A dorsal/ventral boundary established by Notch controls growth and polarity in the Drosophila eye. Nature 396, 276–278 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/24402

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