Atonal (Ato)/Math (Mammalian atonal homolog) family proneural proteins are key regulators of neurogenesis in both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the Drosophila eye, Ato is essential for the generation of photoreceptor neurons. Ato expression is initiated at the anterior ridge of the morphogenetic furrow but is repressed in the retinal precursor cells behind the furrow to prevent ectopic neurogenesis. We show that Ato repression is mediated by the conserved homeobox proteins BarH1 and BarH2. Loss of Bar causes cell-autonomous ectopic Ato expression, resulting in excess photoreceptor clusters. The initial ommatidial spacing at the furrow occurs normally in the absence of Bar, suggesting that the ectopic neurogenesis within Bar mutant clones is not due to the lack of Notch(N)-dependent lateral inhibition. Targeted misexpression of Bar is sufficient to repress ato expression. Furthermore, we provide evidence that Bar represses ato expression at the level of transcription without affecting the expression of an ato activator, Cubitus interruptus(Ci). Thus, we propose that Bar is essential for transcriptional repression of ato and the prevention of ectopic neurogenesis behind the furrow.
About us
Our publisher, The Company of Biologists, turns 100 this year. Read about the history of the Company and find out what Sarah Bray, our Chair of the Board of Directors, has to say.
Biologists @ 100 - join us in Liverpool in March 2025
We are excited to invite you to a unique scientific conference, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of The Company of Biologists, and bringing together our different communities. The conference will incorporate the Spring Meetings of the BSCB and the BSDB, the JEB Symposium Sensory Perception in a Changing World and a DMM programme on antimicrobial resistance. Find out more and register by 28 February 2025 to join us in March 2025 in Liverpool, UK.
Call for papers – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues
Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues. This issue will be coordinated by Guest Editors Meritxell Huch (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany) and Mansi Srivastava (Harvard University and Museum of Comparative Zoology, USA), working alongside our team of academic Editors. Submit your articles by 15 May 2025.
A case for broadening our view of mechanism in developmental biology
In this Perspective, B. Duygu Özpolat and colleagues survey researchers on their views on what it takes to infer mechanism in developmental biology. They examine what factors shape our idea of what we mean by ‘mechanism’ and suggest a path forward that embraces a broad outlook on the diversity of studies that advance knowledge in our field.
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