Developmental regulation of DNA replication in Drosophila melanogaster

In mitotic cell cycles, the genome must be replicated fully in each cell cycle to ensure the normal complement of chromosomes. Failure to replicate chromosomes fully or a failure to limit replication to once-per-cell-cycle may lead to aneuploidy and genomic instability. Variants of the archetypal mitotic cell cycle, utilizing conserved cell cycle machinery, are employed during metazoan development to achieve different aims. Endocycles, in which the cell cycle proceeds without complete mitosis, generate polyploidy and are commonly employed to increase metabolic capacity and cell size. D. melanogaster follicle cell gene amplification, in which bi-directional replication occurs in the absence of detectable gap phases, serves to produce large amounts of eggshell proteins and may also serve to regulate transcription. During D. melanogaster embryogenesis, mitotic cell cycles, endocycles and cell cycle exit occur concurrently. We undertook a screen to identify factors affecting developmentally regulated, variant cell cycles during D. melanogaster embryogenesis. We identified a class of mutants with apparently polyploid cells in normally diploid tissues indicating a failure to maintain mitotic cycles.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Biology.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Park, Eugenia Agnes

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Terry L. Orr-Weaver.

• Biology.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37576

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/37576