Stripes of positional homologies across the wing blade of Drosophila melanogaster

Development ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 391-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Simpson ◽  
M. El Messal ◽  
J. Moscoso del Prado ◽  
P. Ripoll
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Pattern Formation ◽  
Epidermal Cell ◽  
Correct Decision ◽  
Dorsoventral Axis ◽  
Anteroposterior Axis ◽  
Different Types

Clones of cells mutant for shaggy transform all hairs into bristles on the wing blade of Drosophila. Different types of bristles are formed at different locations. It is shown that, although shaggy cells are unable to make a correct decision between an epidermal cell pathway and that of a sensory bristle, they are nevertheless able to respond correctly to positional cues. A compilation of many clones led to the construction of a map of positional homologies in which all of the cells in any one area will produce the same kind of bristle. The result is a series of stripes oriented perpendicular to the anteroposterior axis of the wing and parallel to the dorsoventral axis. The significance of these stripes in relation to mechanisms of pattern formation is discussed.

SPERM PREFERENCE IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER  †

Genetics ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-427
Author(s):  
D Childress ◽  
D L Hartl
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Reproductive Tract ◽  
Meiotic Drive ◽  
Prior Exposure ◽  
Different Types

Abstract A mating is described in which the females appear actively to discriminate against one of the genotypes of sperm. The males in the mating carry T(1;4)B  S  , and the sperm type selected against is the B  S+4-bearing segregant. Prior exposure of the reproductive tract of the females to B  S+4-bearing sperm seems to enhance the ability of the females to subsequently discriminate against B  S+4-bearing sperm. Thus it appears that at least some females of Drosophila melanogaster do possess a mechanism whereby different types of sperm can be distinguished—the sperm preference observed in this system appears to be independent of the meiotic drive in the T(1;4)B  S males.

scholarly journals Comparative approaches to the study of physiology: Drosophila as a physiological tool

2013 ◽  
Vol 304 (3) ◽  
pp. R177-R188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendi S. Neckameyer ◽  
Kathryn J. Argue
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Pattern Formation ◽  
Signaling Pathways ◽  
Human Disease ◽  
Cognitive Disorders ◽  
Model System ◽  
Critical Questions ◽  
Developmental Signaling ◽  
Shed Light

Numerous studies have detailed the extensive conservation of developmental signaling pathways between the model system, Drosophila melanogaster, and mammalian models, but researchers have also profited from the unique and highly tractable genetic tools available in this system to address critical questions in physiology. In this review, we have described contributions that Drosophila researchers have made to mathematical dynamics of pattern formation, cardiac pathologies, the way in which pain circuits are integrated to elicit responses from sensation, as well as the ways in which gene expression can modulate diverse behaviors and shed light on human cognitive disorders. The broad and diverse array of contributions from Drosophila underscore its translational relevance to modeling human disease.

Structure of the insect head as revealed by the EN protein pattern in developing embryos

Development ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 122 (11) ◽  
pp. 3419-3432 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.T. Rogers ◽  
T.C. Kaufman
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Pattern Formation ◽  
Protein Pattern ◽  
Related Protein ◽  
Specific Expression ◽  
Tissue Specific Expression ◽  
Single Segment ◽  
Dorsal Ridge ◽  
Insect Embryos ◽  
Comparative Embryology

The structure of the insect head has long been a topic of enjoyable yet endless debate among entomologists. More recently geneticists and molecular biologists trying to better understand the structure of the head of the Dipteran Drosophila melanogaster have joined the discourse extrapolating from what they have learned about Drosophila to insects in general. Here we present the results of an investigation into the structure of the insect head as revealed by the distribution of engrailed related protein (Engrailed) in the insect orders Diptera, Siphonaptera, Orthoptera and Hemiptera. The results of this comparative embryology in conjunction with genetic experiments on Drosophila melanogaster lead us to conclude: (1) The insect head is composed of six Engrailed accumulating segments, four postoral and two preoral. The potential seventh and eighth segments (clypeus or labrum) do not accumulate Engrailed. (2) The structure known as the dorsal ridge is not specific to the Diptera but is homologous to structures found in other insect orders. (3) A part of this structure is a single segment-like entity composed of labial and maxillary segment derivatives which produce the most anterior cuticle capable of taking a dorsal fate. The segments anterior to the maxillary segment produce only ventral structures. (4) As in Drosophila, the process of segmentation of the insect head is fundamentally different from the process of segmentation in the trunk. (5) The pattern of Engrailed accumulation and its presumed role in the specification and development of head segments appears to be highly conserved while its role in other pattern formation events and tissue-specific expression is variable. An overview of the pattern of Engrailed accumulation in developing insect embryos provides a basis for discussion of the generality of the parasegment and the evolution of Engrailed patterns.

The growth of supernumerary legs in the cockroach

Development ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-131
Author(s):  
Paul R. Truby
Keyword(s):  
Wound Healing ◽  
Cell Division ◽  
Rapid Rate ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Anteroposterior Axis ◽  
Cell Divisions ◽  
Leucophaea Maderae ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Local Cell

When the anteroposterior axis of a cockroach leg is reversed at a graft by exchanging a left leg for a right leg at the mid-tibia level, regeneration occurs in the region of the graft/host junction. This results in the formation of a pair of lateral supernumerary legs. In these experiments the patterns of cell division which take place during supernumerary leg formation were observed in sections of regenerating legs of the cockroach Leucophaea maderae. Early patterns of cell division resemble those seen in control grafts in which no axial reversal had been carried out during grafting. These cell divisions are associated with the process of wound healing. Later, a large area of the epidermis proximal to the graft/host junction becomes activated and shows a rapid rate of cell division. This area forms two outgrowths which grow by cell division throughout their epidermis to form the epidermis of the supernumerary legs. The results are more consistent with the view that the formation of supernumerary legs involves dedifferentiation of the epidermis in the region of the graft/host junction to form a blastema, rather than being due to local cell division at the point of maximum pattern discontinuity. This conclusion is used to offer an explanation for the range of different types of outcome of left-right grafts that has been observed.

scholarly journals Optimum selection strategies: studies with Drosophila melanogaster

1985 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-105
Author(s):  
Aurora García-Dorado ◽  
Carlos López-Fanjul
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Theoretical Treatment ◽  
Good Qualitative Agreement ◽  
Selected Lines ◽  
Selection Strategies ◽  
Bristle Number ◽  
Optimum Selection ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Number Of Individuals

SUMMARYAn experimental evaluation of Jódar & López-Fanjul's (1977) theoretical treatment of the optimum proportions to select when the numbers of males and females scored are unequal has been carried out for sternopleural bristle number in Drosophila melanogaster. Three different values of the sex-ratio (c) were considered (c = 1, 4 and 10) for the same total number of individuals scored per generation. For each c value two types of line were selected with proportions theoretically maximizing the response to be attained after 10 or 20 generations, respectively. Thus, there were six types of lines and each type was replicated sixfold. A good qualitative agreement was found between the observed and the expected rankings of the different types of selected lines at the designated generations.

scholarly journals Regions within a single epidermal cell of Drosophila can be planar polarised independently

eLife ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Rovira ◽  
Pedro Saavedra ◽  
José Casal ◽  
Peter A Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
Single Cell ◽  
Larval Development ◽  
Cell Polarity ◽  
Epidermal Cell ◽  
Planar Cell Polarity ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Local Comparison ◽  
Epithelial Sheets

Planar cell polarity (PCP), the coordinated and consistent orientation of cells in the plane of epithelial sheets, is a fundamental and conserved property of animals and plants. Up to now, the smallest unit expressing PCP has been considered to be an entire single cell. We report that, in the larval epidermis of Drosophila, different subdomains of one cell can have opposite polarities. In larvae, PCP is driven by the Dachsous/Fat system; we show that the polarity of a subdomain within one cell is its response to levels of Dachsous/Fat in the membranes of contacting cells. During larval development, cells rearrange (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="bib25">Saavedra et al., 2014</xref>) and when two subdomains of a single cell have different types of neighbouring cells, then these subdomains can become polarised in opposite directions. We conclude that polarisation depends on a local comparison of the amounts of Dachsous and Fat within opposing regions of a cell's membrane.

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