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Dorothea Godt

Publications and source records attributed to Dorothea Godt.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Drosophila melanogaster Cad99C, the orthologue of human Usher cadherin PCDH15, regulates the length of microvilli.

Actin-based protrusions can form prominent structures on the apical surface of epithelial cells, such as microvilli. Several cytoplasmic factors have been identified that control the dynamics of actin filaments in microvilli. However, it remains unclear whether the plasma membrane participates actively in microvillus formation. In this paper, we analyze the function of Drosophila melanogaster cadherin Cad99C in the microvilli of ovarian follicle cells. Cad99C contributes to eggshell formation and female fertility and is expressed in follicle cells, which produce the eggshells. Cad99C specifically localizes to apical microvilli. Loss of Cad99C function results in shortened and disorganized microvilli, whereas overexpression of Cad99C leads to a dramatic increase of microvillus length. Cad99C that lacks most of the cytoplasmic domain, including potential PDZ domain-binding sites, still promotes excessive microvillus outgrowth, suggesting that the amount of the extracellular domain determines microvillus length. This study reveals Cad99C as a critical regulator of microvillus length, the first example of a transmembrane protein that is involved in this process.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

The large Maf factor Traffic Jam controls gonad morphogenesis in Drosophila.

Interactions between somatic and germline cells are critical for the normal development of egg and sperm. Here we show that the gene traffic jam (tj) produces a soma-specific factor that controls gonad morphogenesis and is required for female and male fertility. tj encodes the only large Maf factor in Drosophila melanogaster, an orthologue of the atypical basic Leu zipper transcription factors c-Maf and MafB/Kreisler in vertebrates. Expression of tj occurs in somatic gonadal cells that are in direct contact with germline cells throughout development. In tj mutant gonads, somatic cells fail to inter-mingle and properly envelop germline cells, causing an early block in germ cell differentiation. In addition, tj mutant somatic cells show an increase in the level of expression for several adhesion molecules. We propose that tj is a critical modulator of the adhesive properties of somatic cells, facilitating germline-soma interactions that are essential for germ cell differentiation.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2003

The Drosophila melanogaster BTB proteins bric à brac bind DNA through a composite DNA binding domain containing a pipsqueak and an AT-Hook motif.

The bric à brac (bab) locus is composed of two paralogous genes, bab1 and bab2, in Drosophila melanogaster. Bab1 and Bab2 are nuclear proteins that contain a broad complex, tramtrack, bric à brac/poxviruses and zinc-finger (BTB/POZ) domain. Many BTB/POZ proteins are transcriptional regulators of which the majority contain C(2)H(2) zinc-finger motifs. There is no detectable zinc-finger motif in either Bab protein. However, they share the Bab conserved domain (BabCD) that is highly conserved between Bab1 and Bab2, and the Bab proteins of several other species, e.g. Anopheles gambiae, Apis mellifera and Drosophila virilis. Here we show that Bab2 binds to several discrete sites on polytene chromosomes including the bab locus, and that the BabCD of both Bab1 and Bab2 binds in vitro to the cis-regulatory regions of bab1 and bab2. Our results indicate that the BabCD binds to A/T-rich regions and that its optimum binding sites contain TA or TAA repeats. The BabCD is a composite DNA binding domain with a psq motif and an AT-Hook motif; both motifs are required for DNA binding activity. Structural similarities suggest that the BabCD may bind to DNA in a similar manner as some prokaryotic recombinases.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2003

Organogenesis: keeping in touch with the germ cells.

DE-cadherin and its novel regulator, the transmembrane protein Fear of Intimacy, have been found to control the adhesive interactions between germline and somatic cells that lead to gonad formation in Drosophila.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Cell sorting in animal development: signalling and adhesive mechanisms in the formation of tissue boundaries.

The organisation of the animal body into distinct tissues requires adhesive mechanisms that promote and maintain the physical segregation, the sorting, of different cell populations. Signals that control differential cell affinities across tissue boundaries have been identified, including Hedgehog, Notch, and EGF receptor signalling. Further, several examples demonstrate that cell sorting in vivo can be driven by Eph/ephrin signalling and by the differential expression of cadherins that modulate cell adhesion and motility.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

The bric à brac locus consists of two paralogous genes encoding BTB/POZ domain proteins and acts as a homeotic and morphogenetic regulator of imaginal development in Drosophila.

The bric à brac (bab) locus acts as a homeotic and morphogenetic regulator in the development of ovaries, appendages and the abdomen. It consists of two structurally and functionally related genes, bab1 and bab2, each of which encodes a single nuclear protein. Bab1 and Bab2 have two conserved domains in common, a BTB/POZ domain and a Psq domain, a motif that characterizes a subfamily of BTB/POZ domain proteins in Drosophila. The tissue distribution of Bab1 and Bab2 overlaps, with Bab1 being expressed in a subpattern of Bab2. Analysis of a series of mutations indicates that the two bab genes have synergistic, distinct and redundant functions during imaginal development. Interestingly, several reproduction-related traits that are sexually dimorphic or show diversity among Drosophila species are highly sensitive to changes in the bab gene dose, suggesting that alterations in bab activity may contribute to evolutionary modification of sex-related morphology.

Abdomen↗