Genetic ablation of pangolin in imaginal and non-imaginal precursors. R.S. Sousa-Neves 1, J.L. Marsh 2, E. Abdelhay 1. 1) Biologia Molecular, Univ.Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; 2) Dept. of Developmental and Cell Biology and the Developmental Biology Center, University of California Irvine; Irvine, California 92697.
Wingless signaling is an important and conserved pathway for several cellular processes during growth and development and inappropriate activation of wg/WNT genes is thought to lead to cancer (Korinek et al.1997). pangolin is the final acceptor of wingless signal known up to now, and also the gene thought to be responsible for wingless transcriptional activation. Here we analyzed the effects of localized loss of pangolin A and pangolin B splicing variants in imaginal and non-imaginal adult derivatives. The genetic ablation was performed in imaginal and non-imaginal precursors during embryonic and larval development. Our data supports the view that pan A is not required for Dorsal/Ventral patterning in distal portions of legs but is essential during wing patterning. pan B is sufficient for determination of ventral values in leg discs. We also show that pan B is required for proper development of dorsal abdominal tergites. In addition these results suggest that neither pan A nor pan B splicing variants seem to be involved in planar polarity.