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Published July 9, 1981 | public
Journal Article

Segment-specific organization of leg motoneurones is transformed in bithorax mutants of Drosophila

Abstract

In Drosophila, genes controlling segmentation in the thorax and abdomen are clustered in one region of the genome known as the bithorax complex. Studies of the genetics of this complex suggest that loss of activity of a gene causes transformation of a particular segment to a more anterior one, mesothorax representing the ultimate transformation. This transformation is well described for the epidermis, but it is not clear whether other segmentally arranged tissues are also transformed. The segmental ganglia are fused in Drosophila into a single compact mass termed the thoracic ganglion but the segmental organization of the nervous system is still apparent. There are discrete regions of neuropil, termed neuromeres, corresponding to the three thoracic segments: pro thorax, mesothorax and meta-thorax. A small terminal neuromere corresponds to the abdominal segments. Evidence is presented here that the leg motoneurones of each of the three thoracic segments are arranged in a segment-specific pattern in the thoracic ganglion. In mutant flies which have the metathoracic cuticle transformed to mesothoracic, the arrangement of the metathoracic leg motoneurones can be altered to resemble that of the mesothoracic leg motoneurones.

Additional Information

© 1981 Macmillan Journals Ltd. Received 20 January 1981; Accepted 09 April 1981; Published 09 July 1981. I thank Dr Ronald Konopka for advice throughout this work and A. Ferrus, E. Lewis, E. Meyerowitz and S. Shotwell for comments on the manuscript. This work was supported in part by a National Research Service Award (1 T32 GM07737) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and a Spencer predoctoral fellowship, in addition to USPHS grants GM 22227 and AG 01844 to Ronald Konopka.

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 18, 2023