Abstract
Morphological complexity of neurons contributes to their functional complexity. How neurons generate different dendritic patterns is not known. We identified the sequoia mutant from a previous screen for dendrite mutants. Here we report that Sequoia is a pan-neural nuclear protein containing two putative zinc fingers homologous to the DNA binding domain of Tramtrack. sequoia mutants affect the cell fate decision of a small subset of neurons but have global effects on axon and dendrite morphologies of most and possibly all neurons. In support of sequoia as a specific regulator of neuronal morphogenesis, microarray experiments indicate that sequoia may regulate downstream genes that are important for executing neurite development rather than altering a variety of molecules that specify cell fates.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
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Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
MeSH terms
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Amino Acid Sequence
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Animals
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Axons / metabolism*
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Cell Differentiation
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Cell Division
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Cell Lineage
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Cell Nucleus / metabolism
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Cell Size
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DNA-Binding Proteins / chemistry
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DNA-Binding Proteins / genetics
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DNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism*
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Dendrites / metabolism*
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Drosophila / cytology
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Drosophila / embryology*
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Drosophila / genetics
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Drosophila Proteins*
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Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
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In Situ Hybridization
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Mutation / genetics
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Nerve Tissue Proteins / chemistry
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Nerve Tissue Proteins / genetics
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Nerve Tissue Proteins / metabolism*
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Nervous System / cytology*
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Nervous System / embryology*
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Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
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RNA, Messenger / genetics
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RNA, Messenger / metabolism
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Repressor Proteins / chemistry*
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Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
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Zinc Fingers*
Substances
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DNA-Binding Proteins
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Drosophila Proteins
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Nerve Tissue Proteins
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RNA, Messenger
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Repressor Proteins
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seq protein, Drosophila
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ttk protein, Drosophila