The presence of nuclear cactus in the early Drosophila embryo may extend the dynamic range of the dorsal gradient.

ABSTRACT: In a developing embryo, the spatial distribution of a signaling molecule, or a morphogen gradient, has been hypothesized to carry positional information to pattern tissues. Recent measurements of morphogen distribution have allowed us to subject this hypothesis to rigorous physical testing. In the early Drosophila embryo, measurements of the morphogen Dorsal, which is a transcription factor responsible for initiating the earliest zygotic patterns along the dorsal-ventral axis, have revealed a gradient that is too narrow to pattern the entire axis. In this study, we use a mathematical model of Dorsal dynamics, fit to experimental data, to determine the ability of the Dorsal gradient to regulate gene expression across the entire dorsal-ventral axis. We found that two assumptions are required

SUBMITTER: O'Connell MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4400154 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature