The Drosophila tango gene encodes a bHLH-PAS protein that is orthologous to mammalian Arnt and controls CNS midline and tracheal development

Abstract

The Drosophila single-minded and trachealess bHLH-PAS genes control transcription and development of the CNS midline cell lineage and tracheal tubules, respectively. We show that Single-minded and Trachealess activate transcription by forming dimers with the Drosophila Tango protein that is an orthologue of the mammalian Arnt protein. Both cell culture and in vivo studies show that a DNA enhancer element acts as a binding site for both Single-minded::Tango and Trachealess::Tango heterodimers and functions in controlling CNS midline and tracheal transcription. Isolation and analysis of tango mutants reveal CNS midline and tracheal defects, and gene dosage studies demonstrate in vivo interactions between single-minded::tango and trachealess::tango. These experiments support the existence of an evolutionarily conserved, functionally diverse bHLH-PAS protein regulatory system.

Molecular Evolution of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Signaling Pathway Genes

“…Full-length homologs of Urochordate Ciona, C . elegans aha-1 , and Drosophila tgo are present in the phylogeny as well, consistent with previous studies (Emmons et al, 1999; Qin and Powell-Coffman, 2004; Sonnenfeld et al, 1997). Cartilaginous fish homologs are present in clades except ARNTL2, in addition to spotted gar, bony-fishes, teleost, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammal species homologs, which confirms this gene family was preserved in these evolutionary lineages.…”

Transcriptional regulation of peripheral glial cell differentiation in the embryonic nervous system of drosophila

“…To identify the jaywalker gene, we first searched the Flybase database for genes with a known role in tracheal development mapping to one of these regions. One of the genes that matched this search criterion was tango , which fulfills an important role during early tracheal development (Sonnenfeld et al, 1997). Complementation tests further demonstrated an allelic relationship of tango and jaywalker .…”

“…To further discriminate between these alternatives, we first studied peripheral glial cell migration in embryos lacking the tracheal system. The bHLH‐PAS transcription factor encoded by the trachealess gene is expressed specifically only in the trachea (Isaac and Andrew, 1996; Sonnenfeld et al, 1997; Wilk et al, 1996; Younossi‐Hartenstein and Hartenstein, 1993). In homozygous mutant trachealess 10512 or trachealess 3 embryos, no trachea are formed, but peripheral glial migration phenotype was normal (Fig.…”

Progress of studies on family members and functions of animal bHLH transcription factors

“…控制中央神经系统中线细胞发育和气管发育, 但两 者的功能都是通过与Tgo蛋白形成二聚体、结合到相 应的增强子DNA上并激活基因的转录的 [173] 。 线虫也只有 1 个ARNT家族成员, 称为AHA-1 (AHR associated protein family member 1), 其作用是 与HIF-1 形成二聚体, 帮助细胞适应低氧环境(详见 本文 3.7) [174] 。…”