An Introduction to Muscle Development in Drosophila

Abstract

Muscles have multiple roles in organisms. These roles range from facilitating conscious and unconscious movement, to maintaining posture, stabilizing joints, generating body heat, and moving substances within the body. To successfully carry out these functions, each muscle must develop as the right muscle type in the right location, achieve and maintain appropriate size, possess a correctly ordered contractile apparatus, and be capable of responding to contraction-inducing stimuli. A fundamental question is: How does a muscle develop so that it possesses the properties required for correct functioning? This book reviews how the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is being used to address this question.