PMID- 12900453
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20031112
LR  - 20220316
IS  - 0950-1991 (Print)
IS  - 0950-1991 (Linking)
VI  - 130
IP  - 18
DP  - 2003 Sep
TI  - The expression and function of the achaete-scute genes in Tribolium castaneum 
      reveals conservation and variation in neural pattern formation and cell fate 
      specification.
PG  - 4373-81
AB  - The study of achaete-scute (ac/sc) genes has recently become a paradigm to 
      understand the evolution and development of the arthropod nervous system. We 
      describe the identification and characterization of the ac/sc genes in the 
      coleopteran insect species Tribolium castaneum. We have identified two Tribolium 
      ac/sc genes - achaete-scute homolog (Tc-ASH) a proneural gene and asense (Tc-ase) 
      a neural precursor gene that reside in a gene complex. Focusing on the embryonic 
      central nervous system we find that Tc-ASH is expressed in all neural precursors 
      and the proneural clusters from which they segregate. Through RNAi and 
      misexpression studies we show that Tc-ASH is necessary for neural precursor 
      formation in Tribolium and sufficient for neural precursor formation in 
      Drosophila. Comparison of the function of the Drosophila and Tribolium proneural 
      ac/sc genes suggests that in the Drosophila lineage these genes have maintained 
      their ancestral function in neural precursor formation and have acquired a new 
      role in the fate specification of individual neural precursors. Furthermore, we 
      find that Tc-ase is expressed in all neural precursors suggesting an important 
      and conserved role for asense genes in insect nervous system development. Our 
      analysis of the Tribolium ac/sc genes indicates significant plasticity in gene 
      number, expression and function, and implicates these modifications in the 
      evolution of arthropod neural development.
FAU - Wheeler, Scott R
AU  - Wheeler SR
AD  - Program in Neuroscience, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 
      63110, USA.
FAU - Carrico, Michelle L
AU  - Carrico ML
FAU - Wilson, Beth A
AU  - Wilson BA
FAU - Brown, Susan J
AU  - Brown SJ
FAU - Skeath, James B
AU  - Skeath JB
LA  - eng
GR  - R01 HD029594/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/United States
GR  - R01 HD029594-12/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/United States
GR  - NS 36570/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/United States
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
PT  - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
PL  - England
TA  - Development
JT  - Development (Cambridge, England)
JID - 8701744
RN  - 0 (Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors)
RN  - 0 (DNA-Binding Proteins)
RN  - 0 (Drosophila Proteins)
RN  - 0 (Transcription Factors)
RN  - 0 (ac protein, Drosophila)
RN  - 0 (sc protein, Drosophila)
SB  - IM
MH  - Amino Acid Sequence
MH  - Animals
MH  - Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors
MH  - Brain/cytology/growth & development/physiology
MH  - Cell Lineage
MH  - DNA-Binding Proteins/classification/*genetics/metabolism
MH  - Drosophila Proteins/classification/*genetics/metabolism
MH  - Drosophila melanogaster/genetics
MH  - *Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
MH  - Genes, Insect
MH  - In Situ Hybridization
MH  - Molecular Sequence Data
MH  - *Morphogenesis
MH  - Phylogeny
MH  - Sequence Alignment
MH  - Transcription Factors/classification/*genetics/metabolism
MH  - Tribolium/*embryology/*genetics/physiology
OTO - NASA
OT  - NASA Discipline Evolutionary Biology
OT  - NASA Program Fundamental Space Biology
OT  - Non-NASA Center
FIR - Skeath, J B
IR  - Skeath JB
IRAD- Washington U Sch Med, St Louis, MO
EDAT- 2003/08/06 05:00
MHDA- 2003/11/13 05:00
CRDT- 2003/08/06 05:00
PHST- 2003/08/06 05:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2003/11/13 05:00 [medline]
PHST- 2003/08/06 05:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1242/dev.00646 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Development. 2003 Sep;130(18):4373-81. doi: 10.1242/dev.00646.