Uninflatable encodes a novel ectodermal apical surface protein required for tracheal inflation in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: The tracheal system of Drosophila melanogaster has proven to be an excellent model system for studying the development of branched tubular organs. Mechanisms regulating the patterning and initial maturation of the tracheal system have been largely worked out, yet important questions remain regarding how the mature tubes inflate with air at the end of embryogenesis, and how the tracheal system grows in response to the oxygen needs of a developing larva that increases nearly 1000-fold in volume over a four day period. Here we describe the cloning and characterization of uninflatable (uif), a gene that encodes a large transmembrane protein containing carbohydrate binding and cell signaling motifs in its extracellular domain. Uif is highly conserved in insect species, but does not appear to ha

SUBMITTER: Zhang L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2790384 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature