Epidermal growth factor receptor signaling activates orthodenticle expression during Drosophila head development

The relation between signal transduction pathways and the genes that specify regional identity remains poorly understood. We investigated the interaction between the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway and the homeobox gene orthodenticle (otd), which specifies cell fate during head development. Previous studies of head formation in Drosophila melanogaster demonstrated that reducing either EGFR signaling or otd expression in the imaginal primordium of the dorsal head capsule eliminates the ocelli and other dorsal head structures. Here, we show that blocking EGFR signaling reduces otd expression and that activating EGFR signaling outside this primordium induces ectopic otd expression. We also demonstrate that loss of EGFR can be rescued by constitutive otd expression. Our results indicate that otd is a downstream target of the EGFR pathway during head development.