Drosophila Segment Borders Result from Unilateral Repression of Hedgehog Activity by Wingless Signaling

Abstract Body structures of Drosophila develop through transient developmental units, termed parasegments, with boundaries lying between the adjacent expression domains of wingless and engrailed . Parasegments are transformed into the morphologically distinct segments that remain fixed. Segment borders are established adjacent and posterior to each engrailed domain. They are marked by single rows of stripe expressing cells that develop into epidermal muscle attachment sites. We show that the positioning of these cells is achieved through repression of Hedgehog signal transduction by Wingless signaling at the parasegment boundary. The nuclear mediators of the two signaling pathways, Cubitus interruptus and Pangolin, function as activator and symmetry-breaking repressor of stripe expression, respectively.