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Developmental biology

Attractive genetics

Nature volume 396, pages 406–407 (1998)Cite this article

On page 466 of this issue, Van Doren et al.1 report the identification and analysis of a gene in Drosophila embryos that attracts the precursors for sperm and eggs — the germ cells — as they migrate to the gonad in order to mature. Christened columbus, this is the first gene to be implicated in producing an attractant for germ cells in this model system. The authors show that columbus encodes 3-hydroxy3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase2, an enzyme best known for its role in cholesterol biosynthesis in humans3, and the target of cholesterol-lowering drugs. HMG-CoA reductase is unlikely to be the attractant itself because it is located intracellularly, in the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum, but it defines a new pathway for producing an attractant that may well be a lipid.

Earlier this year, the Lehmann lab reported an exhaustive genetic screen of Drosophila for functions required during germ-cell migration and gonad formation4, and columbus is one of the handful of genes that they identified. Several of these genes encode nuclear factors that regulate genes involved in the formation of gonadal target tissue5. But mutations that disturb germ-cell migration without preventing formation of the target tissue should point the way to pathways involved in the production of specific signals to guide the germ cells.

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Figure 1: Action of HMG-CoA reductase on germ-cell migration.

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  1. the MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology and the Department of Physiology, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    Ken Howard

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  1. Ken Howard
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Howard, K. Attractive genetics. Nature 396, 406–407 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/24714

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