Heterotrimeric kinesin-II is necessary and sufficient to promote different stepwise assembly of morphologically distinct bipartite cilia in Drosophila antenna.

ABSTRACT: Structurally diverse sensory cilia have evolved from primary cilia, a microtubule-based cellular extension engaged in chemical and mechanical sensing and signal integration. The diversity is often associated with functional specialization. The olfactory receptor neurons in Drosophila, for example, express three distinct bipartite cilia displaying different sets of olfactory receptors on them. Molecular description underlying their assembly and diversification is still incomplete. Here, we show that the branched and the slender olfactory cilia develop in two distinct step-wise patterns through the pupal stages before the expression of olfactory receptor genes in olfactory neurons. The process initiates with a thin procilium growth from the dendrite apex, followed by volume increment in succ

SUBMITTER: Jana SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3057702 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature