Combinatorial control of Drosophila eye development by eyeless, homothorax, and teashirt

In Drosophila, the development of the compound eye depends on the movement of a morphogenetic furrow (MF) from the posterior (P) to the anterior (A) of the eye imaginal disc. We define several subdomains along the A-P axis of the eye disc that express distinct combinations of transcription factors. One subdomain, anterior to the MF, expresses two homeobox genes, eyeless (ey) and homothorax (hth), and the zinc-finger gene teashirt (tsh). We provide evidence that this combination of transcription factors may function as a complex and that it plays at least two roles in eye development: it blocks the expression of later-acting transcription factors in the eye development cascade, and it promotes cell proliferation. A key step in the transition from an immature proliferative state to a committed state in eye development is the repression of hth by the BMP-4 homolog Decapentaplegic (Dpp).