An RNAi Screen for Rho Signaling Pathway Components Required for Drosophila Amnioserosa Morphogenesis
LI Qiuyue1, ZHANG Zhaoxuan1, LÜ Zhiyi1,2*
The formation and maintenance of cell morphology is closely related to the biological functions it performs, of which F-actin, as the cytoskeleton, are one of the determinants of cell morphology. The Rho family of small G proteins is an important signalling molecule that controls F-actin organization. However, the differentspecies of Rho proteins, and how the upstream RhoGEF and RhoGAP synergistically regulate cell morphology,have not been systematically investigated. In this study, a genetic screen for the Rho family and its upstream signallingmolecules was performed by tissue-specific expression of RNAi using Drosophila amnioserosa cells as a model.The results showed that Rho1 was not involved in the morphogenesis of amnioserosa cells, and that RhoL andRhoBTB of the same Rho subfamily, Mtl of the Rac subfamily and Cdc42 were the main sources of Rho activity.Several important regulators of amnioserosa development were further identified by knocking down 26 RhoGEF and 22 RhoGAP in Drosophila, with knockdown of RhoGAP19D in amnioserosa tissue leading to near 100% lethality. In this study, a series of key factors affecting F-actin during amnioserosa development were identified through RNAi genetic screening, providing clues for further studies.
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