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Abstract
Breathless, a Drosophila FGF receptor homolog (DFGF-R1), was shown to be essential
for the migration of the tracheal cells and the posterior midline glia cells. The
temporal requirement for the activity of this receptor was dissected by a dominant-negative
construct lacking a functional cytoplasmic tyrosine-kinase domain. Induction of the
construct prior to the onset of tracheal or glial cell migration produced phenotypes
that were similar to those observed in the corresponding tissues of breathless null
mutant embryos. However, this effect is not detected if the dominant-negative receptor
is induced after the initiation of tracheal cell migration, indicating that Breathless
is required primarily at the onset of the migration process. Induction of the construct
after the tracheal branches are completed, blocked the formation of tracheoles, i.e.
extension of cellular processes by the terminal tracheal cells, demonstrating that
Breathless plays an essential role in this process as well. The requirement for Breathless
at the onset of migration and the diversity of processes in which it participates,
suggest that the receptor is involved in triggering transcription factors, which may
be distinct for each context.