The IVth Karlson Lecture: ecdysone-responsive genes

Those of us who study ecdysone action share at least two important long-range goals: (i) to understand the developmental specificity of steroid action in full molecular detail, by integrating ecdysone action with our rapidly expanding knowledge of the molecular biology of insect development, and (ii) to better understand the nature of the steroid response and its evolution by taking advantage of the unparalleled opportunities for both genetic and comparative study afforded by the diversity of the "ecdysone world". However, until recently, the molecular fundamentals of the ecdysone system were unknown and our efforts have, of necessity, been devoted to their elucidation. Now that the situation has changed: we have a small but varied catalog of ecdysone-responsive genes for study and it is clear that some of these are tissue- and stage-specific in their expression. The ecdysone receptor (EcR), like other steroid receptors a member of the nuclear receptor family, is now accessible to molecular study, and we have a preliminary understanding of the DNA sequences (EcREs) that bind receptor and specify a gene as ecdysone-responsive. With these tools in hand and with the opportunity to turn to larger questions, it is a propitious moment to consider the nature of those questions and how ecdysone can contribute to the answers.