Hedgehog signaling guides migration of primordial germ cells to the Drosophila somatic gonad

Abstract

In addition to inducing non-autonomous specification of cell fate in both Drosophila and vertebrates, the Hedgehog pathway guides cell migration in a variety of different tissues. Although its role in axon guidance in the vertebrate nervous system is widely recognized, its role guiding the migratory path of primordial germ cells (PGCs) from the outside surface of the Drosophila embryo through the midgut and mesoderm to the SGPs (somatic gonadal precursors) has been controversial. Here we present new experiments demonstrating a) that Hh produced by mesodermal cells guides PGC migration, b) that HMG CoenzymeA reductase (Hmgcr) potentiates guidance signals emanating from the SGPs, functioning upstream of hh and of two Hh pathway genes important for Hh containing cytonemes, and c) that factors required in Hh receiving cells in other contexts function in PGCs to help direct migration towards the SGPs. We also compare the data reported by four different laboratories that have studied the role of the Hh pathway in guiding PGC migration.