Role of transcriptional repressive factors of the segmentation cascade in the anterior region of the syncytial blastoderm of Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Knowledge of the molecular mechanisms responsible for differential transcription, especially the way in which transcription factors act, is still minimal. Our group addresses this question by investigating the segmentation cascade model system that specifies the anterior-posterior axis of the Drosophila melanogaster body. We recently published articles focusing on the initial levels of this regulatory network, where repressive transcription factors operate additively to delimit the expression of pair-rule stripes and prevent the regulatory modules of these stripes from being activated in more anterior regions of the embryo. With this proposal we intend to continue this line of research using different approaches: genetic (simultaneous removal of several repressors and analysis of the expression patterns of segmentation genes in the embryo), biochemical (in vitro DNA-protein interaction experiments) and in silico (prediction of binding sites for transcription factors in target genes followed by bioinformatics, statistical and computational analyses). We anticipate that the integration of approaches will promote the detection of properties of the investigated transcription factors and of regulatory mechanisms mediated by their interaction with binding sites in the regulatory modules of target genes. The approval of this proposal will enable the advancement of investigations in different phases of execution and contributions to transcriptional studies and to the fly segmentation with the publication of scientific articles. This proposal will also consolidate our multidisciplinary team and the engagement of students with diverse interests. (AU)