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Cited by 38Developmental Biology and Gene RegulationNeurobiology and Insect Physiology ResearchGenomics and Chromatin Dynamics

Drosophila E93 promotes adult development and suppresses larval responses to ecdysone during metamorphosis

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Lam, Geanette, Nam, Hyuck-Jin, Velentzas, Panagiotis D., Baehrecke, Eric H., Thummel, Carl S.·2022·Developmental Biology
DOI 10.1016/j.ydbio.2021.10.001PMC PMC8665130
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Abstract

Pulses of the steroid hormone ecdysone act through transcriptional cascades to direct the major developmental transitions during the Drosophila life cycle. These include the prepupal ecdysone pulse, which occurs 10 ​hours after pupariation and triggers the onset of adult morphogenesis and larval tissue destruction. E93 encodes a transcription factor that is specifically induced by the prepupal pulse of ecdysone, supporting a model proposed by earlier work that it specifies the onset of adult development. Although a number of studies have addressed these functions for E93, little is known about its roles in the salivary gland where the E93 locus was originally identified. Here we show that E93 is required for development through late pupal stages, with mutants displaying defects in adult differentiation and no detectable effect on the destruction of larval salivary glands. RNA-seq analysis demonstrates that E93 regulates genes involved in development and morphogenesis in the salivary glands, but has little effect on cell death gene expression. We also show that E93 is required to direct the proper timing of ecdysone-regulated gene expression in salivary glands, and that it suppresses earlier transcriptional programs that occur during larval and prepupal stages. These studies support the model that the stage-specific induction of E93 in late prepupae provides a critical signal that defines the end of larval development and the onset of adult differentiation.

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  • Based on whether JH is needed to maintain the larva, either E93 (Tribolium) or broad (Drosophila) serves as the entry to metamorphosis.

    “Based on whether JH is needed to maintain the larva, either E93 ( Tribolium ) or broad ( Drosophila ) serves as the entry to metamorphosis.”

    From Regulation of metamorphosis in holometabolous insects (2026) · cites this paper as [35]

    The Introduction reports a conserved role for E93 in adult development in Tribolium, and the References list a study describing E93 upregulation as a trigger for metamorphosis there (page numbers unavailable). The paper does not establish that Broad is the entry to metamorphosis in Drosophila or that the choice between E93 and Broad depends on whether juvenile hormone maintains the larva. (LLM, conf=0.77)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The arrested phenotypes of null mutants of broad and E93 in Drosophila indicate that the gateway to metamorphosis shifts from E93 to broad in higher flies.

    “The arrested phenotypes of null mutants of broad [27] and E93 [65,35] in Drosophila indicate that the gateway to metamorphosis shifts from E93 to broad in higher flies.”

    From Regulation of metamorphosis in holometabolous insects (2026) · cites this paper as [35]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Lam, G., Nam, H.-J., Velentzas, P. D., Baehrecke, E. H., & Thummel, C. S.
Affiliations
  • University of Utah (US)
  • University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School (US)
Corresponding author
Thummel, Carl S.
ORCID
Venue
Developmental Biology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2022-01
Volume
481
Pages
104-115
ISSN
0012-1606 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.ydbio.2021.10.001
PMC
PMC8665130
OpenAlex
W3205680088
Cited by
38
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5
FWCI
1.41
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Developmental Biology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01 GM079431)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01 DK075607)
  • National Institutes of Health
  • Huntsman Cancer Institute
  • National Cancer Institute (P30CA042014)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
Keywords
E93, Drosophila, ecdysone, metamorphosis, adult development, salivary glands, transcription factors, gene expression regulation, larval-pupal transition, cell death
MeSH terms
Animals, Drosophila melanogaster, Ecdysone, Larva, Metamorphosis, Biological, Transcription Factors, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Drosophila Proteins

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