Expression and function of the Drosophila gene runt in early stages of neural development

The Drosophila gene runt was initially identified on the basis of its role during segmentation. Recent molecular and genetic studies have demonstrated that the runt gene encodes a novel nuclear protein whose developmental importance is not exclusive to segmentation. This report addresses the functional relevance of runt expression in the developmental pathway of neurogenesis. Antibodies against the runt protein reveal that it is expressed in a subset of neuroblasts, ganglion-mother cells and neurons. A subset of these neurons also co-express the segmentation gene even-skipped (eve). Using eve as a marker, we show that runt is required for the normal development of these neurons. A runt P-transposon that lacks neural cis-regulatory elements is used to show that these neurons require runt activity independent of its activity during segmentation. These results are confirmed using a temperature-sensitive runt allele. Further temperature-shift experiments indicate that the requirement for runt is during an early stage of neurogenesis. Based on its pattern of expression and its temporal requirements, runt is distinguished as one of the earliest acting genes involved in the generation of diverse cell fates in the developing Drosophila nervous system.