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Splitting the bithorax complex of Drosophila

Nature volume 308, pages 454–457 (1984)Cite this article

Abstract

The bithorax complex (BX-C) of Drosophila is a series of adjacent genes which control the development of most of the thoracic and abdominal segments1–7. Each of these genes is normally active only in particular sets of segments. Moreover, they are ordered along the chromosome in almost exactly the same sequence as that of the segments in which they act. This remarkable correspondence has led to the suggestion1,2,5,7 that the progressive unfurling of BX-C activity along the body axis is dictated in part by its genetic organization, and hence, that it may depend on the structural integrity of the entire complex. This suggestion is supported by several cases of ‘polar’ complementation behaviour observed between mutations in separable genes of the complex1–6. Here I show that it is possible to split the complex into two pieces without affecting the development of the larva or adult. This result establishes that the complex is composed of at least two autonomous domains. Surprisingly, these domains do not control the development of separate sets of segments. Rather, their realms of action appear to intersect at the anteroposterior compartment boundary located in the middle of the first abdominal segment. This result extends previous findings8–11 that anteroposterior compartment boundaries within segments may demarcate the limits of BX-C gene function. Indeed, the phenotypes of larvae carrying only the proximal or distal domain suggest that the BX-C genes act not on segments as wholes, but on segmental units bounded by the anteroposterior compartment boundaries subdividing each segment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, CB2 2QH, UK

    Gary Struhl

  2. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA

    Gary Struhl

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  1. Gary Struhl
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Struhl, G. Splitting the bithorax complex of Drosophila. Nature 308, 454–457 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/308454a0

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