AUTHOR=Ruiz-Losada Mireya , Pérez-Reyes Cristian , Estella Carlos 

TITLE=Role of the Forkhead Transcription Factors Fd4 and Fd5 During Drosophila Leg Development

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cell-and-developmental-biology/articles/10.3389/fcell.2021.723927

DOI=10.3389/fcell.2021.723927

ISSN=2296-634X

ABSTRACT=<p>Appendage development requires the coordinated function of signaling pathways and transcription factors to pattern the leg along the three main axes: the antero-posterior (AP), proximo-distal (PD), and dorso-ventral (DV). The <italic>Drosophila</italic> leg DV axis is organized by two morphogens, Decapentaplegic (Dpp), and Wingless (Wg), which direct dorsal and ventral cell fates, respectively. However, how these signals regulate the differential expression of its target genes is mostly unknown. In this work, we found that two members of the <italic>Drosophila</italic> forkhead family of transcription factors, Fd4 and Fd5 (also known as <italic>fd96Ca</italic> and <italic>fd96Cb</italic>), are identically expressed in the ventro-lateral domain of the leg imaginal disc in response to Dpp signaling. Here, we analyze the expression regulation and function of these genes during leg development. We have generated specific mutant alleles for each gene and a double <italic>fd4/fd5</italic> mutant chromosome to study their function during development. We highlight the redundant role of the <italic>fd4/fd5</italic> genes during the formation of the sex comb, a male specific structure that appears in the ventro-lateral domain of the prothoracic leg.</p>