Relationship between the product of the Drosophila ultraspiracle locus and the vertebrate retinoid X receptor

• DOI: 10.1038/347298a0
• Publication Date: 2003-06-12T22:51:34Z
• Authors: Anthony E. Oro; Michael McKeown; Ronald M. Evans
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Binding Sites; Base Sequence; Receptors, Retinoic Acid; Molecular Sequence Data; Restriction Mapping; Nucleic Acid Hybridization; DNA; 03 medical and health sciences; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; Mutation; Animals; Humans; Drosophila; Amino Acid Sequence; Carrier Proteins

The vitamin A derivative, retinoic acid, can regulate morphogenesis and differentiation in vertebrates. Two different subfamilies of the steroid receptor superfamily of transcription factors, the retinoic acid receptors and the retinoid X receptor, mediate the effects of retinoic acid. As part of an analysis of the hormonal control of development, we have examined the Drosophila genome for retinoic acid receptor homologues. Here we describe one such gene, XR2C, which encodes a product with structural similarity to the human retinoic acid-responsive transcription factor, retinoid X receptor. This receptor-like protein is encoded by ultraspiracle (usp), a locus required both maternally and zygotically for pattern formation. The discovery that the usp product is a retinoid X receptor homologue suggests that similar chemical cues underlie morphogenic signalling in vertebrate and invertebrate systems.