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The relative expression amounts of apterous and its co-factor dLdb/Chip are critical for dorso-ventral
P Fernández-Fúnez1, C H Lu, D E Rincón-Limas
1Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Abstract:
Dorso-ventral axis formation in the Drosophila wing requires the localized accumulation of the Apterous LIM/homeodomain protein (Ap) in dorsal cells. Here we report that dLdb/Chip encodes a LIM-binding cofactor that controls Ap activity. Both lack and excess of dLdb/Chip function cause the same phenotype as apterous (ap) lack of function; i.e. dorsal to ventral transformations, generation of new wing margins, and wing outgrowths. These results indicate that the normal function of Ap in dorso-ventral compartmentalization requires the correct amount of the DLDB/CHIP co-factor, and suggest that the Ap and DLDB/CHIP proteins form a multimeric functional complex. In support of this model, we show that the dLdb/Chip excess-of-function phenotypes can be rescued by ap overexpression.