Schmidt-Ott Lab

Selected Papers based on Research Topics 

1. Studies on the evolution of bicoid and embryonic axis specification in true flies (Diptera):

Embryo polarity in moth flies and mosquitoes relies on distinct old genes with localized transcript isoforms. Yoon Y, Klomp J, Martin-Martin I, Criscione F, Calvo E, Ribeiro J, Schmidt-Ott U. Elife. 2019 PMID:31591963
[This study identifies primary axis determinants in moth flies (Clogmia, Lutzomyia), various mosquitoes (Culex, Aedes, Anopheles), and a crane fly species. The data suggest an ancestral role of pangolin in dipteran axis specification, and provide insight into the mechanism by which new axis determinants evolve. The study also shows that Clogmia evolved a zygotic mechanism for germ cell specification.]

Ancient mechanisms for the evolution of the bicoid homeodomain’s function in fly development. Liu Q, Onal P, Datta RR, Rogers JM, Schmidt-Ott U, Bulyk ML, Small S, Thornton JW. Elife. 2018; 7.
PMID:30298815, PMCID:PMC6177261

A cysteine-clamp gene drives embryo polarity in the midge Chironomus
Klomp J, Athy D, Kwan CW, Bloch NI, Sandmann T, Lemke S., Schmidt-Ott U.
Science. 2015
PMID: 25953821
[This study shows that a small new gene – unrelated to bicoid – functions as anterior axis determinant in chironomids. The study also shows that bicoid has been lost in the lineages of Tephritid fruit flies and Tsetse flies. ]>>Read the blog! (link)<<

Quantitative system drift compensates for altered maternal inputs to the gap gene network of the scuttle fly Megaselia abdita.
Wotton KR, Jiménez-Guri E, Crombach A, Janssens H, Alcaine-Colet A, Lemke S, Schmidt-Ott U, Jaeger J.
Elife. 2015; 4.
PMID: 25560971

Maternal activation of gap genes in the hover fly Episyrphus.
Lemke S, Busch SE, Antonopoulos DA, Meyer F, Domanus MH, Schmidt-Ott U.
Development (Cambridge, England). 2010; 137(10):1709-19.
PMID: 20430746

Evidence for a composite anterior determinant in the hover fly Episyrphus balteatus (Syrphidae), a cyclorrhaphan fly with an anterodorsal serosa anlage.
Lemke S, Schmidt-Ott U.
Development (Cambridge, England). 2009; 136(1):117-27.
PMID: 19060334

A single Hox3 gene with composite bicoid and zerknullt expression characteristics in non-cyclorrhaphan flies.
Stauber M, Prell A, Schmidt-Ott U.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2002; 99(1):274-9.
PMID: 11773616

Function of bicoid and hunchback homologs in the basal cyclorrhaphan fly Megaselia (Phoridae).
Stauber M, Taubert H, Schmidt-Ott U.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2000; 97(20):10844-9.
PMID: 10995461

The anterior determinant bicoid of Drosophila is a derived Hox class 3 gene.
Stauber M, Jäckle H, Schmidt-Ott U.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 1999; 96(7):3786-9.
PMID: 10097115

2. Studies on the evolution of extraembryonic tissues in flies:

Functional evolution of a morphogenetic gradient 
Kwan CW, Gavin-Smyth J, Ferguson E.L, Schmidt-Ott U.
eLife. (2016)
PMID: 28005004
>>Read the blog! (Link)<<
[This study examines spatiotemporal dynamics of the embryonic BMP gradient and how it diverged between two species to alter tissue complexity.]

BMP-dependent serosa and amnion specification in the scuttle fly Megaselia abdita.
Rafiqi AM, Park CH, Kwan CW, Lemke S, Schmidt-Ott U.
Development (Cambridge, England). 2012; 139(18):3373-82.
PMID: 22874914

Morphogenetic functions of extraembryonic membranes in insects
Schmidt-Ott U and Kwan CW
Current Opinion in Insect Science. 2016; 13(1):86-92.
[Review paper]

Evolutionary origin of the amnioserosa in cyclorrhaphan flies correlates with spatial and temporal expression changes of zen.
Rafiqi AM, Lemke S, Ferguson S, Stauber M, Schmidt-Ott U.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2008; 105(1):234-9.
PMID: 18172205
[This study examines the evolution of extraembryonic tissues in flies and proposes a simple genetic mechanism for the origin of the amnioserosa of higher flies in the Cretaceous epoch.]

Postgastrular zen expression is required to develop distinct amniotic and serosal epithelia in the scuttle fly Megaselia.
Rafiqi AM, Lemke S, Schmidt-Ott U.
Developmental biology. 2010; 341(1):282-90.
PMID: 20144604

3. Phylogenetic and genomic contributions:

Episodic radiations in the fly tree of life.
Wiegmann BM, Trautwein MD, Winkler IS, Barr NB, Kim JW, Lambkin C, Bertone MA, Cassel BK, Bayless KM, Heimberg AM, Wheeler BM, Peterson KJ, Pape T, Sinclair BJ, Skevington JH, Blagoderov V, Caravas J, Kutty SN, Schmidt-Ott U, Kampmeier GE, Thompson FC, Grimaldi DA, Beckenbach AT, Courtney GW, Friedrich M, Meier R, Yeates DK.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2011; 108(14):5690-5.
PMID: 21402926

Extremely small genomes in two unrelated dipteran insects with shared early developmental traits.
Schmidt-Ott U, Rafiqi AM, Sander K, Johnston JS.
Development genes and evolution. 2009; 219(4):207-10.
PMID: 19308443

BMP signaling components in embryonic transcriptomes of the hover fly Episyrphus balteatus (Syrphidae).
Lemke S, Antonopoulos DA, Meyer F, Domanus MH, Schmidt-Ott U.
BMC genomics. 2011; 12:278.
PMID: 21627820

4. A comparative study on subcellular transcript localization:

Differential cytoplasmic mRNA localization adjusts pair-rule transcription factor activity to cytoarchitecture in dipteran evolution.
Bullock SL, Stauber M, Prell A, Hughes JR, Ish-Horowicz D, Schmidt-Ott U.
Development (Cambridge, England). 2004; 131(17):4251-61.
PMID: 15280214
[This study reveals the evolutionary lability of mRNA localization signals and their impact gene regulation in the blastoderm of Drosophila.]

5. Studies on segmentation of the insect head:

Number, identity, and sequence of the Drosophila head segments as revealed by neural elements and their deletion patterns in mutants.
Schmidt-Ott U, González-Gaitán M, Jäckle H, Technau GM.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 1994; 91(18):8363-7.
PMID: 7915837

Expression of en and wg in the embryonic head and brain of Drosophila indicates a refolded band of seven segment remnants.
Schmidt-Ott U, Technau GM.
Development (Cambridge, England). 1992; 116(1):111-25.
PMID: 1483381

5. Selected Reviews:

Morphogenetic functions of extraembryonic membranes in insects. Schmidt-Ott U, Kwan CW. Current Opinion in Insect Science. 2016; 13:86-92.
PMID:27436557

Emerging developmental genetic model systems in holometabolous insects. Schmidt-Ott U, Lynch JA. Current Opinion in Genetics & Development. 2016; 39:116-128.
PMID:27399647

The generation of variation and the developmental basis for evolutionary novelty. Hallgrímsson B, Jamniczky HA, Young NM, Rolian C, Schmidt-Ott U, Marcucio RS. Journal of Experimental Zoology. Part B, Molecular and Developmental Evolution. 2012; 318(6):501-17.
PMID:22649039, PMCID:PMC364820

The scuttle fly Megaselia abdita (Phoridae): a link between Drosophila and Mosquito development. Rafiqi AM, Lemke S, Schmidt-Ott U. Cold Spring Harbor Protocols. 2011; 2011(4):pdb.emo143.
PMID:21460041

Evo-devo aspects of classical and molecular data in a historical perspective. Sander K, Schmidt-Ott U. Journal of Experimental Zoology. Part B, Molecular and Developmental Evolution. 2004; 302(1):69-91.
PMID:14760654

6. Protocols:

Megaselia abdita: culturing and egg collection. Rafiqi AM, Lemke S, Schmidt-Ott U. Cold Spring Harbor Protocols. 2011; 2011(4):pdb.prot5600.
PMID:21460049

Megaselia abdita: preparing embryos for injection. Rafiqi AM, Lemke S, Schmidt-Ott U. Cold Spring Harbor Protocols. 2011; 2011(4):pdb.prot5601.
PMID:21460050

Megaselia abdita: fixing and devitellinizing embryos. Rafiqi AM, Lemke S, Schmidt-Ott U. Cold Spring Harbor Protocols. 2011; 2011(4):pdb.prot5602.
PMID:21460051

Megaselia abdita: cuticle preparation from injected embryos. Rafiqi AM, Lemke S, Schmidt-Ott U. Cold Spring Harbor Protocols. 2011; 2011(4):pdb.prot5603.
PMID:21460052