Gliogenesis in Drosophila

In Drosophila, the glial cells missing (gcm) gene encodes a transcription factor that controls the determination of glial versus neuronal fate. In gcm mutants, presumptive glial cells are transformed into neurons and, conversely, when gcm is ectopically misexpressed, presumptive neurons become glia. Although gcm is thought to initiate glial cell development through its action on downstream genes that execute the glial differentiation program, little is known about the identity of these genes. To identify gcm downstream genes in a comprehensive manner, genome-wide oligonucleotide arrays were used to analyze differential gene expression in wild-type embryos versus embryos in which gcm is misexpressed throughout the neuroectoderm. Transcripts were analyzed at two defined temporal windows during embryogenesis. This first genome-wide analysis of gene expression events downstream of a key developmental transcription factor presents a novel level of insight into the repertoire of genes that initiate and maintain cell fate choices in CNS development. Keywords: other