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TGF beta elicits diverse cellular responses by signaling through receptor complexes formed by two distantly related transmembrane serine/threonine kinases called type II and type I receptors. Previous studies have indicated that the product of the Drosophila thick veins (tkv) gene is a type I receptor for decapentaplegic (dpp). Here, we show that the Drosophila gene punt encodes a homolog of a vertebrate type II receptor, and we demonstrate that punt, like tkv, is essential in vivo for dpp-dependent patterning processes. Because no dpp-related signalling is apparent in the absence of either the punt or tkv receptor, we infer that both receptors act in concert to transduce the dpp signal and that their functions cannot be replaced by the other extant type II and I receptors.
