Hayden, Anne Marie; (2000) Molecular cloning and functional characterisation of Drosophila Tunen, a homolog of the germ cell guidance factor Wunen. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

An early event in Drosophila melanogaster gonad formation requires germ cells to move from the developing gut and migrate to the overlying mesoderm. Wunen, a Drosophila lipid phosphate phosphohydrolase (LPP) plays a role in this guidance mechanism by repelling germ cells from the gut. This work identified and cloned the cDNA for Drosophila Tunen a homolog of Wunen. In situ hybridisation analysis showed that Tunen and Wunen share a common expression pattern in developing embryos. Creating a Tunen transcript null tunenΔ4 and Tunen overexpression studies demonstrated that Tunen is also a repulsive guidance factor involved in germ cell migration. Analysis of genomic sequence around the wunen locus revealed that wunen and tunen co-localise and are divergently transcribed. Germ cell migration in the wunen null wunK10201 is much more perturbed than in the Tunen null tunenΔ4. In situ hybridisation analysis of wunK10201 embryos demonstrated that these embryos were also null for Tunen. This finding along with the shared expression pattern, common function and spatial organisation of wunen and tunen suggests these proteins co-operate to regulate germ cell migration.

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