Drosophila mesoderm specification

Taxon: D. melanogaster
Process: Development | Signalling
Submitter: Denis Thieffry

Supporting paper: Mbodj, Abibatou and Gustafson, E. Hilary and Ciglar, Lucia and Junion, Guillaume and Gonzalez, Aitor and Girardot, Charles and Perrin, Laurent and Furlong, Eileen E. M. and Thieffry, Denis (2016). Qualitative Dynamical Modelling Can Formally Explain Mesoderm Specification and Predict Novel Developmental Phenotypes. PLOS Computational Biology. 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005073

Model file(s)	Description(s)
DrosoMesoLogModel.zginml	Model file to be open with GINsim

Summary:
This logical model encompasses 48 components and 82 regulatory interactions controlling mesoderm specification during Drosophila development, thereby integrating all major genetic processes underlying the formation of four mesodermal tissues. The model is based on in vivo genetic data, partly confirmed by functional genomic data.

Model simulations qualitatively recapitulate the expression of the main lineage markers of each mesodermal derivative, from developmental stage 8 to 10, for the wild type case, as well as for over twenty reported mutant genotypes.

This model has been used to systematically predict the effects of over 300 loss- and gain-off unction mutations, and combinations thereof. By generating specific mutant combinations, several novel predictions experimentally could be validated, demonstrating the robustness of model.