Delilah, prospero, and D-Pax2 constitute a gene regulatory network essential for the development of functional proprioceptors

Abstract

Coordinated animal locomotion depends on the development of functional proprioceptors. While early cell-fate determination processes are well characterized, little is known about the terminal differentiation of cells within the proprioceptive lineage and the genetic networks that control them. In this work we describe a gene regulatory network consisting of three transcription factors–Prospero (Pros), D-Pax2, and Delilah (Dei)–that dictates two alternative differentiation programs within the proprioceptive lineage in Drosophila. We show that D-Pax2 and Pros control the differentiation of cap versus scolopale cells in the chordotonal organ lineage by, respectively, activating and repressing the transcription of dei. Normally, D-Pax2 activates the expression of dei in the cap cell but is unable to do so in the scolopale cell where Pros is co-expressed. We further show that D-Pax2 and Pros exert their effects on dei transcription via a 262 bp chordotonal-specific enhancer in which two D-Pax2- and three Pros-binding sites were identified experimentally. When this enhancer was removed from the fly genome, the cap- and ligament-specific expression of dei was lost, resulting in loss of chordotonal organ functionality and defective larval locomotion. Thus, coordinated larval locomotion depends on the activity of a dei enhancer that integrates both activating and repressive inputs for the generation of a functional proprioceptive organ.

A nonneural miRNA cluster mediates hearing via repression of two neural targets

“…These included Elav (a canonical neural antigen), Prospero (specific to the scolopale cell), and D-Pax2 (expressed in scolopale and cap cells). Note that to our knowledge, D-Pax2 expression has not been analyzed previously in JOs but is expressed in these cell types in embryonic chordotonal organs ( Avetisyan et al 2021 ). Because the antenna has 3D architecture and hundreds of scolopidia are packed tightly within JOs, it is difficult to discern cell numbers without laborious imaging and cell quantification through their volume ( Kamikouchi et al 2006 ).…”