BMP Signaling and the Maintenance of Primordial Germ Cell Identity in Drosophila Embryos

The specification of primordial germ cells (PGCs) and subsequent maintenance of germ-line identity in Drosophila embryos has long been thought to occur solely under the control of cell-autonomous factors deposited in the posterior pole plasm during oogenesis. However, here we document a novel role f...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one Vol. 9; no. 2; p. e88847
Main Authors: Deshpande, Girish, Willis, Elinor, Chatterjee, Sandip, Fernandez, Robert, Dias, Kristen, Schedl, Paul
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Public Library of Science 14.02.2014
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:
Animals
Autocrine Communication
Biology
Bone morphogenetic proteins
Bone Morphogenetic Proteins - metabolism
Cell division
Cell Nucleus - metabolism
Cell signaling
Coalescence
Coalescing
Down-Regulation
Drosophila
Drosophila melanogaster - cytology
Drosophila melanogaster - embryology
Drosophila Proteins - metabolism
Embryo, Nonmammalian - cytology
Embryo, Nonmammalian - metabolism
Embryonic Development
Embryos
Gene expression
Germ cells
Germ Cells - cytology
Germ Cells - metabolism
Homology
Insects
Maintenance
Molecular biology
Oogenesis
Phosphorylation
Signal Transduction
Signaling
Stem cells
ISSN:1932-6203, 1932-6203
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The specification of primordial germ cells (PGCs) and subsequent maintenance of germ-line identity in Drosophila embryos has long been thought to occur solely under the control of cell-autonomous factors deposited in the posterior pole plasm during oogenesis. However, here we document a novel role for somatic BMP signaling in the maintenance of PGC fate during the period leading up to embryonic gonad coalescence. We find that PGCs fail to maintain their germline identity when BMP signaling is compromised. They initiate but are unable to properly assemble the germline stem cell-specific organelle, the spectrosome, and they lose expression of the germline-specific gene Vasa. BMP signaling must, however, be finely tuned as there are deleterious consequences to PGCs when the pathway is excessively active. We show that one mechanism used to calibrate the effects of BMP signals is dependent on the Ubc9 homolog Lesswright (Lwr).
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
content type line 23
Current address: Department of Chemical Biology, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, United States of America
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Conceived and designed the experiments: GD EW PS. Performed the experiments: GD EW SC RF KD. Analyzed the data: GD EW SC RF KD. Wrote the paper: GD EW PS.
Current address: Department of Biology, California State University, Northridge, California, United States of America
Current address: Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry BBS Program, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
Current address: School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0088847