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Molecular and Cellular Biology, August 2003, p. 5625-5637, Vol. 23, No. 16
0270-7306/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.23.16.5625-5637.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

The Drosophila dysfusion Basic Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH)-PAS Gene Controls Tracheal Fusion and Levels of the Trachealess bHLH-PAS Protein

Lan Jiang and Stephen T. Crews*

Program in Molecular Biology and Biophysics, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3280

Received 22 January 2003/ Returned for modification 21 February 2003/ Accepted 20 May 2003

The development of the mature insect trachea requires a complex series of cellular events, including tracheal cell specification, cell migration, tubule branching, and tubule fusion. Here we describe the identification of the Drosophila melanogaster dysfusion gene, which encodes a novel basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH)-PAS protein conserved between Caenorhabditis elegans, insects, and humans, and controls tracheal fusion events. The Dysfusion protein functions as a heterodimer with the Tango bHLH-PAS protein in vivo to form a putative DNA-binding complex. The dysfusion gene is expressed in a variety of embryonic cell types, including tracheal-fusion, leading-edge, foregut atrium cells, nervous system, hindgut, and anal pad cells. RNAi experiments indicate that dysfusion is required for dorsal branch, lateral trunk, and ganglionic branch fusion but not for fusion of the dorsal trunk. The escargot gene, which is also expressed in fusion cells and is required for tracheal fusion, precedes dysfusion expression. Analysis of escargot mutants indicates a complex pattern of dysfusion regulation, such that dysfusion expression is dependent on escargot in the dorsal and ganglionic branches but not the dorsal trunk. Early in tracheal development, the Trachealess bHLH-PAS protein is present at uniformly high levels in all tracheal cells, but since the levels of Dysfusion rise in wild-type fusion cells, the levels of Trachealess in fusion cells decline. The downregulation of Trachealess is dependent on dysfusion function. These results suggest the possibility that competitive interactions between basic helix-loop-helix-PAS proteins (Dysfusion, Trachealess, and possibly Similar) may be important for the proper development of the trachea.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biochemistry, CB#3280 Fordham Hall, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3280. Phone: (919) 962-4380. Fax: (919) 962-8472. E-mail: steve_crews{at}unc.edu.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, August 2003, p. 5625-5637, Vol. 23, No. 16
0022-538X/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.23.16.5625-5637.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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