Kehle, J., Beuchle, D., Treheit, S., Christen, B., Kennison, J.A., Bienz, M., Müller, J. (1998). dMi-2, a hunchback-interacting protein that functions in polycomb repression. Science 282(5395): 1897--1900.
FlyBase ID
FBrf0106056
Publication Type
Research paper
Abstract
Early in Drosophila embryogenesis, gap gene products directly repress transcription of homeotic (HOX) genes and thereby delimit HOX expression domains. Subsequently, Polycomb-group proteins maintain this repression. Currently, there is no known molecular link between gap and Polycomb-group proteins. Here, dMi-2 is identified as a protein that binds to a domain in the gap protein Hunchback that is specifically required for the repression of HOX genes. Genetic analyses show that dMi-2 participates in both Hunchback and Polycomb repression in vivo. Hence, recruitment of dMi-2 may serve as a link between repression of HOX genes by Hunchback and Polycomb proteins.
