An interaction between Yorkie and Taiman transcriptional coactivators regulates niche-to-stem cell BMP signaling in the female Drosophila germline

In the female Drosophila melanogaster germline niche, disrupting the Yki:Tai interaction with taiPPxA expands Dpp ligand spread, elevating Dpp signaling and blocking GSC progeny differentiation.

• Why it matters: Niche-to-stem signaling must be constrained to preserve stem cell fate, but how Hippo and EcR pathway outputs are coordinated within niche cells is unclear.
• What they did: Using a CRISPR mutant line expressing taiPPxA, which cannot bind Yki, the study tested how loss of Yki:Tai binding affects signaling behavior in specific somatic niche cell types.
• The result: The Yki:Tai interaction acts mainly in escort cells, where taiPPxA reduces EC cytoplasmic processes, permits Dpp to spread beyond its normal range, and increases Dpp signaling to prevent differentiation of GSC progeny.

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