Stage-specific mechanisms regulate the expression of the dopa decarboxylase gene during Drosophila development

Transcripts of the dopa decarboxylase (Ddc) gene accumulate within 4 h of the administration of 20-OH-ecdysone to mature larvae of Drosophila. The increase can be explained as the sum of a direct steroid effect, independent of protein synthesis, and an indirect effect, dependent on proteins synthesized after an increase in the hormone titer. By contrast, the peaks of DDC activity in embryos, and perhaps in the first two larval instars and in imaginal discs as well, cannot be ascribed to any direct steroid effects. In fact, a decreasing hormone titer might be required before the Ddc gene can be expressed at these stages. The stage-specific differences in the molecular mechanisms regulating Ddc gene activity may be reflected in the phenotype of an activity variant, Ddc+4. Molecular studies now underway on the variant Ddc gene might help us to understand the complex multifunctional region that we believe lies upstream of the gene and regulates its expression during development.

[1]  D. Fristrom,et al.  The hormonal coordination of cuticulin deposition and morphogenesis in Drosophila imaginal discs in vivo and in vitro. , 1986, Developmental biology.

[2]  J. Hirsh,et al.  High levels of intron-containing RNAs are associated with expression of the Drosophila DOPA decarboxylase gene , 1984, Molecular and cellular biology.

[3]  J. Hirsh,et al.  Isolation and characterization of the dopa decarboxylase gene of Drosophila melanogaster , 1981, Molecular and cellular biology.

[4]  R. D. Gietz,et al.  Induction of translatable mRNA for dopa decarboxylase in Drosophila: an early response to ecdysterone. , 1980, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[5]  R. Palmiter,et al.  Transcriptional regulation of the ovalbumin and conalbumin genes by steroid hormones in chick oviduct. , 1979, The Journal of biological chemistry.

[6]  L. Kauvar,et al.  Roles of ecdysone in Drosophila development. , 1977, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[7]  R. Hodgetts,et al.  Ecdysone titers during postembryonic development of Drosophila melanogaster. , 1977, Developmental biology.

[8]  R. F. Cox.  Estrogen withdrawal in chick oviduct. Selective loss of high abundance classes of polyadenylated messenger RNA. , 1977, Biochemistry.

[9]  E. S. Chang,et al.  The qualitative and quantitative determinations of ecdysones in tissues of the crab, Pachygrapsus crassipes, following molt induction. , 1976, General and comparative endocrinology.

[10]  C. Sekeris,et al.  Translation of mRNA for 3,4‐Dihydroxyphenylalanine Decarboxylase Isolated from Epidermis Tissue of Calliphora vicina R.‐D. in an Heterologous System , 1975 .

[11]  J. Fristrom,et al.  Ecdysone levels during metamorphosis of Drosophila melanogaster. , 1974, Developmental biology.

[12]  P. Karlson,et al.  Zum tyrosinstoffwechsel der insekten IX. Kontrolle des tyrosinstoffwechsels durch ecdyson , 1962 .

[13]  R. D. Gietz,et al.  An analysis of dopa decarboxylase expression during embryogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster. , 1985, Developmental biology.

[14]  M. Lagueux,et al.  Ecdysone titre and metabolism in relation to cuticulogenesis in embryos of Locusta migratoria , 1979 .

[15]  M. Ashburner,et al.  Temporal control of puffing activity in polytene chromosomes. , 1974, Cold Spring Harbor symposia on quantitative biology.