Dynamic regulation of eve stripe 2 expression reveals transcriptional bursts in living Drosophila embryos

Jacques P. Bothma, Hernan G. Garcia, Emilia Esposito, Gavin Schlissel, Thomas Gregor, Michael Levine

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

170 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present the use of recently developed live imaging methods to examine the dynamic regulation of even-skipped (eve) stripe 2 expression in the precellular Drosophila embryo. Nascent transcripts were visualized via MS2 RNA stem loops. The eve stripe 2 transgene exhibits a highly dynamic pattern of de novo transcription, beginning with a broad domain of expression during nuclear cycle 12 (nc12), and progressive refinement during nc13 and nc14. The mature stripe 2 pattern is surprisingly transient, constituting just ∼15 min of the ∼90-min period of expression. Nonetheless, this dynamic transcription profile faithfully predicts the limits of the mature stripe visualized by conventional in situ detection methods. Analysis of individual transcription foci reveals intermittent bursts of de novo transcription, with duration cycles of 4-10 min. We discuss a multistate model of transcription regulation and speculate on its role in the dynamic repression of the eve stripe 2 expression pattern during development.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)10598-10603
Number of pages6
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume111
Issue number29
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 22 2014

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General

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