Hox proteins are homeodomain transcription factors that diversify serially homologous segments along the animal body axis, as revealed by the classic bithorax phenotype of Drosophila melanogaster, in which mutations in Ultrabithorax (Ubx) transform the third thoracic segment into the likeness of the second thoracic segment. To specify segment identity, we show that Ubx both increases and decreases chromatin accessibility, coinciding with its dual role as both an activator and repressor of transcription. However, the choice of transcriptional activity executed by Ubx is spatially regulated and depends on the availability of cofactors, with Ubx acting as a repressor in some populations and as an activator in others. Ubx-mediated changes to chromatin accessibility positively and negatively affect the binding of Scalloped (Sd), a transcription factor that is required for appendage development in both segments. These findings illustrate how a single Hox protein can modify complex gene regulatory networks to transform the identity of an entire tissue.
Keywords: Drosophila melanogaster; Hox cofactors; Hox genes; Ubx; Ultrabithorax; appendage development; bithorax; haltere; serial homology; wing.
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