A precise Bicoid gradient is nonessential during cycles 11-13 for precise patterning in the Drosophila blastoderm.

ABSTRACT:

Background

During development, embryos decode maternal morphogen inputs into highly precise zygotic gene expression. The discovery of the morphogen Bicoid and its profound effect on developmental programming in the Drosophila embryo has been a cornerstone in understanding the decoding of maternal inputs. Bicoid has been described as a classical morphogen that forms a concentration gradient along the antero-posterior axis of the embryo by diffusion and initiates expression of target genes in a concentration-dependent manner in the syncytial blastoderm. Recent work has emphasized the stability of the Bicoid gradient as a function of egg length and the role of nuclear dynamics in maintaining the Bicoid gradient. Bicoid and nuclear dynamics were observed but not modulated under the ide

SUBMITTER: Lucchetta EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2578877 | biostudies-literature | 2008

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature