Abstract
The maternal gene bicoid is a key component of the system that determines the pattern of the anterior half of Drosophila embryos. The bicoid protein forms a concentration gradient in early embryos, and is known to bind DNA. Specific binding sites are now shown to confer expression in a region of the embryo that depends on their affinity for bicoid protein: sites of high affinity allow expression further down the bicoid protein gradient than sites of low affinity.
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Driever, W., Thoma, G. & Nüsslein-Volhard, C. Determination of spatial domains of zygotic gene expression in the Drosophila embryo by the affinity of binding sites for the bicoid morphogen. Nature 340, 363–367 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/340363a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/340363a0
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