Summary
Cell death during the development of the mutant Bar of Drosophila melanogaster has been further investigated. The temporal and spatial distribution of degenerating cells was determined by light microscopy of serial sections of Bar eye discs. It appears that the presumptive eye cells die during the initial stage of differentiation; i.e., during their organization into groups of cells corresponding to the future ommatidia.
The effects of acetamide and cytosine treatment on the development of the Bar eye disc were also examined. Both of these compounds, when fed to larvae, greatly increase facet number in the adult fly. Acetamide increases facet number by inhibiting Bar specific cell death, while cytosine delays degeneration to a later stage in development when ommatidial organization is almost complete.
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Communicated by E. Hadorn
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Fristrom, D. Chemical modification of cell death in the Bar eye of Drosophila . Molec. Gen. Genet. 115, 10–18 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00272212
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00272212