Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 25, 2026
16:47
Preparation of Developing and Adult Drosophila Brains and Retinae for Live Imaging
Published on: March 16, 2010
37.3K
The Drosophila patched gene encodes a putative membrane protein required for segmental patterning
1Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309-0347.
Cell
|November 17, 1989
Summary
The patched (ptc) gene in Drosophila is crucial for segment patterning. Its absence causes cell fate transformations, duplicating segment border patterns and indicating its role in cell interactions.
Area of Science:
- Developmental biology
- Genetics
- Molecular biology
Background:
- The patched (ptc) gene is essential for Drosophila segment polarity.
- ptc gene mutations lead to cell fate transformations and duplicated segment border patterns.
Purpose of the Study:
- To clone the ptc gene and characterize its protein product.
- To investigate the expression pattern of ptc RNA during embryonic development.
- To understand the role of ptc in establishing segment pattern through cell interactions.
Main Methods:
- Gene cloning and sequence analysis to determine protein structure.
- RNA expression analysis in Drosophila embryos.
- Phenotypic analysis of ptc mutant embryos.
Main Results:
- The ptc gene encodes a 1286 amino acid protein with seven predicted transmembrane domains.
- ptc RNA is expressed in segmental stripes that later divide.
- Mutant analysis reveals duplication of segment and parasegment border patterns.
Conclusions:
- The ptc gene product is a transmembrane protein involved in Drosophila development.
- ptc's expression pattern suggests a role in cell signaling pathways that regulate segment patterning.
- Further research is needed to elucidate the precise cell interactions mediated by ptc.
Related Concept Videos
02:32Position-effect Variegation
In 1928, a German botanist Emil Heitz observed the moss nuclei with a DNA binding dye. He observed that while some chromatin regions decondense and spread out in the interphase nucleus, others do not. He termed them euchromatin and heterochromatin, respectively. He proposed that the heterochromatin regions reflect a functionally inactive state of the genome. It was later confirmed that heterochromatin is transcriptionally repressed, and euchromatin is transcriptionally active chromatin.
02:32Exon Recombination
The evolution of new genes is critical for speciation. Exon recombination, also known as exon shuffling or domain shuffling, is an important means of new gene formation. It is observed across vertebrates, invertebrates, and in some plants such as potatoes and sunflowers. During exon recombination, exons from the same or different genes recombine and produce new exon-intron combinations, which might evolve into new genes.
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon has three reading...
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon has three reading...