The function of replication and SCF complex during Drosophila wing development.

Chromosomal DNA replication machinery functions in the growing cells and organs in multicellular organisms. We previously demonstrated that its knockdown in several tissues of Drosophila led to a rough eye phenotype, the loss of bristles in the eye and female sterile. In this paper, I investigated in detail the wing phenotype using RNAi flies, and observed that the knockdown not only of Mcm10 but also of some other prereplicative complex components including Cdt1, Polα-primase, RPA, Psf2 (partner of SLD five 2; a subunit of GINS (Go, Ichi, Nii, and San; five, one, two, and three in Japanese) and Rfc3 (replication factor C 3; a subunit of RFC complex) demonstrated wing phenotypes, using Gal4-driver flies. Surprisingly, some SCF complex components, which control cell cycle progression via protein degradation, also showed the wing phenotype. These results showed that the DNA replication machinery contributes to wing development independently of growth, probably through defects in DNA replication and protein degradation at specific places and times.