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ONE GENE FOUND TO COMMAND MANY OTHERS TO BUILD A WING
17 April 2001 - University of Wisconsin-Madison
| That scenario, where a single gene orchestrates the construction of a fruit fly wing by commanding a network of many other genes, is described in the Friday, April 13 edition of the journal Science by a team of researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison. |
That scenario, where a single gene orchestrates the construction of a fruit fly wing by commanding a network of many other genes, is described in the Friday, April 13 edition of the journal Science by a team of researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison. The finding is important because it helps define the organizational flow chart for genes whose job it is to build structures. These genes, known generally as selector genes, are critical to the building of wings, legs, eyes, antennae and more. And the implications of the discovery very likely extend far beyond fruit flies to other animals, including humans, says Sean Carroll, a study author and developmental biologist. "Of all the genes in the genetic tool kit, very few shoulder the responsibility of commanding the development of an entire structure," Carroll says. "Genes that are involved in making structures need to know how they're going to act. Here's a gene that does that and it gives us our first concrete look at how this process works." The gene, known to molecular biologists as "scalloped," is responsible for making a protein that seeks out and turns on all the genes that do the heavy lifting of producing and organizing cells to form a wing. The protein produced by scalloped binds to certain segments of the fruit fly genome and activates and regulates target genes within those segments, Carroll says. In fruit flies, the genome is composed of about 13,000 genes. Of those, perhaps less than a dozen behave like scalloped, making these boss genes critical nodes in the process of animal development, Carroll says. Lead authors are Kirsten A. Guss and Craig. E. Nelson. Co-authors include Angela Hudson, Mary Ellen Kraus and Carroll, professor of genetics and molecular biology at UW-Madison.
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About: University of Wisconsin-Madison
In achievement and prestige, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has long been recognized as one of America’s great universities. A public, land-grant institution, UW-Madison offers a complete spectrum of liberal arts studies, professional programs and student activities. Many of its programs are hailed as world leaders in instruction, research and public service.The university traces its roots to a clause in the Wisconsin Constitution, which decreed that the state should have a prominent public university. In 1848, Nelson Dewey, Wisconsin’s first governor, signed the act that formally created the university, and its first class, with 17 students, met in a Madison school building on February 5, 1849. From those humble beginnings, the university has grown into a large, diverse community, with about 40,000 students enrolled each year. These students represent every state in the nation, as well as countries from around the globe, making for a truly international population. UW-Madison is the oldest and largest campus in the University of Wisconsin System, a statewide network of 13 comprehensive universities, 13 freshman-sophomore transfer colleges and an extension service. One of two doctorate-granting universities in the system, UW-Madison’s specific mission is to provide "a learning environment in which faculty, staff and students can discover, examine critically, preserve and transmit the knowledge, wisdom and values that will help insure the survival of this and future generations and improve the quality of life for all." The university achieves these ends through innovative programs of research, teaching and public service. Throughout its history, UW-Madison has sought to bring the power of learning into the daily lives of its students through innovations such as residential learning communities and service-learning opportunities. Students also participate freely in research, which has led to life-improving inventions from more fuel-efficient engines to cutting-edge genetic therapies. Students, faculty and staff are motivated by a tradition known as the "Wisconsin Idea," described by UW President Charles Van Hise in 1904 as the compelling need to carry "the beneficent influence of the university ... to every home in the state." The Wisconsin Idea permeates the university’s work and helps forge close working relationships among university faculty and students and the state’s industries and government. |
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