Transcriptional control of Drosophila embryo development

Creation of different cell types from an identical DNA sequence is one of the most remarkable properties of genomes, and a fundamental question in developmental biology. Control of transcription establishes the gene expression programs that define a cell and directs cell differentiation. It is thereby critical for embryo development. A mechanistic view of transcriptional regulation is not only necessary for recognition of how specific cell states are established and epigenetically maintained, but also for understanding how its misregulation leads to disease. The Drosophila embryo allows us to dissect these mechanisms in vivo by a set of tools that are not readily available elsewhere. Molecular, genetic, and genomic approaches are used to identify the molecular mechanisms by which tissue-specific gene expression is controlled in vivo.

Keywords

transcription, co-regulators, genome-wide, chromatin, epigenetics, embryo patterning

Selected publications

Holmqvist, P.H., Boija, A., Philip, P., Crona, F., Stenberg, P., & Mannervik, M. (2012). Preferential genome targeting of the CBP co-activator by Rel and Smad proteins in early Drosophila melanogaster embryos. PLoS Genetics. 8(6):e1002769

Nègre, N., Brown, C.D., Ma, L., Bristow, C.A., Miller, S.W., Wagner, U., Kheradpour, P., Eaton, M.L., Loriaux, P., Sealfon, R., Li, Z., Ishii, H., Spokony, R.F., Chen, J., Hwang, L., Cheng, C., Auburn, R.P., Davis, M.B., Domanus, M., Shah, P.K., Morrison, C.A., Zieba, J., Suchy, S., Senderowicz, L., Victorsen, A., Bild, N.A., Grundstad, A.J., Hanley, D., MacAlpine, D.M., Mannervik, M., Venken, K., Bellen, H., White, R., Gerstein, M., Russell, S., Grossman, R.L., Ren, B., Posakony, J.W., Kellis, M., & White, K.P. (2011). A cis-regulatory map of the Drosophila genome. Nature. 471(7339):527-31

Qi, D., Bergman, M., Aihara, H., Nibu, Y., &Mannervik, M. (2008). Drosophila Ebi mediates Snail-dependent transcriptional repression through HDAC3-induced histone deacetylation. EMBO J. 27(6):898-909

Haecker, A., Bergman, M., Neupert, C., Moussian, B., Luschnig, S., Aebi, M., & Mannervik, M. (2008). Wollknäuel is required for embryo patterning and encodes the Drosophila ALG5 UDP-glucose:dolichyl-phosphate glucosyltransferase. Development. 135 (10): 1745-9

Haecker, A., Qi, D., Lilja, T., Moussian, B., Andrioli, L.P., Luschnig, S., & Mannervik, M. (2007). Drosophila Brakeless Interacts with Atrophin and is Required for Tailless-Mediated Transcriptional Repression in Early Embryos. PLoS Biology. 5, 1298-1308