The eyeless homeodomain is dispensable for eye development in Drosophila
Abstract
Pax-6 genes, known to be essential for eye development, encode an evolutionarily conserved transcription factor with two DNA-binding domains. To corroborate the contribution of each DNA-binding domain to eye formation, we generated truncated forms of the Drosophila Pax-6 gene eyeless and tested their capacity to rescue the ey 2 mutant. Surprisingly, EY deleted of the homeodomain rescued the ey 2 mutant and triggered ectopic eyes morphogenesis. In contrast, EY lacking the paired domain failed to rescue the ey 2 mutant, led to truncation of appendages, and repressed Distal-less when misexpressed. This result suggests distinct functions mediated differentially by the two DNA-binding domains of eyeless.
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Footnotes
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↵3 Corresponding author.
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E-MAIL Walter.Gehring{at}unibas.ch; FAX 41-61-267-20-78.
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Article and publication are at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.196401
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- Received December 13, 2000.
- Accepted May 11, 2001.
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press