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Keywords

Drosophila; Larval Cuticle; Homeotic Mutants; Parasegments; Sense Organs; Drosophila-Melanogaster; Bithorax Complex; Fate Map; Embryo; Gene; Organization; Expression; Blastoderm; Mutations; Identity; Developmental Biology

Abstract

Whereas the segmental organization of the thorax and anterior abdomen is morphologically delineated in both the Drosophila larva and adult, segments in the head and caudal regions lack such well-defined boundaries. Consequently, the organization of these regions has been difficult to decipher. In this study, transformations caused by the bithorax-complex homeotic mutants 48, M3, Ultraabdominal-1 (Uab1) and tumorous-head-3 (tuh-3), as well as the patterns of engrailed gene expression have been analyzed to investigate the segmental organization of the caudal segments. A special emphasis was placed on sense organs appearing in abdominal segments 8, 9 and 10 (A8-A10): We find that: (1) transformations in the caudal segments obey parasegmental borders; (2) the sense organs on A8, A9, and A10 are probably homologous to the pits and hairs in anterior A1-A7; (3) except for the larval anal tuft and the anterior side of A8, all structures in larval segments A8, A9 and A10 are dorsal/lateral in origin; and (4) dorsalization of embryonic A8 and A9 cells leaves space ventrally for A10, as it follows the contracting ventral nervous system during the embryological process of germ band contraction.

Journal Title

Development

Volume

116

Issue/Number

1

Publication Date

1-1-1992

Document Type

Article

Language

English

WOS Identifier

WOS:A1992JQ86400002

ISSN

0950-1991

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