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Orchestrating size and shape during morphogenesis

2007; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 450; Issue: 7167 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/nature06304

1476-4687

Thomas Lecuit, Loïc LeGoff,

Cellular Mechanics and Interactions

This issue includes a landmark collection of papers on the stalwart of the genetics lab, the Drosophila fruit fly. The centrepiece is the publication by the Drosophila 12 Genomes Consortium of the genomic sequence for ten Drosophila species. The paper compares the newly sequenced genomes (sechellia, simulans, yakuba, erecta, ananassae, persimilis, willistoni, mojavensis, virilis and grimshawi species), with the two previously known sequences for D. melanogaster and D. pseudoobscura. The resulting database of genetic variation will be invaluable for the study of the forces of evolutionary change. A second major collaboration has mined the dozen Drosophila genome sequences for conserved elements, and reports the relationship between conservation and function for many specific sequence motifs. A detailed regulatory network emerges, identifying protein-coding genes and exons, RNA genes, microRNAs and their targets. These papers are discussed in News and Views. Two further research papers use the new genomic data to study gene expression, first for genes with male-biased expression and those unique to each species and second, to track the evolution of gene dosage compensation on Drosophila sex chromosomes. Four new reviews focus on how the latest work on Drosophila is taking this genetically pliant lab model into exciting new fields. Pierre Leopold and Norbert Perrimon review advances in the study of endocrinology and homeostasis that are establishing Drosophila as a model for mammalian physiology. Drosophila has proved a powerful system in which to study the pathways controlling cell shape in growing tissue, as reported by Thomas Lecuit and Loïc Le Goff. Leslie Vosshall reviews the remarkable work linking neural circuits and behaviour and John Lis reviews work on Drosophila that has rewritten the textbook view of gene transcription. The cover shows anaesthetized individuals of all twelve Drosophila species. Living organisms exhibit tremendous diversity, evident in the large repertoire of forms and considerable size range. Scientists have discovered that conserved mechanisms control the development of all organisms. Drosophila has proved to be a particularly powerful model system with which to identify the signalling pathways that organize tissue patterns. More recently, much has been learned about the control of tissue growth, tissue shape and their coordination at the cellular and tissue levels. New models integrate how specific signals and mechanical forces shape tissues and may also control their size.