Genetic Control of Mesoderm Patterning and Differentiation During Drosophila Embryogenesis

Abstract

Publisher Summary The mesodermal germ layer forms during gastrulation and gives rise to a variety of internal tissues and organs in all triploblastic animals. The composition, structure, and function of many of these tissues have clear similarities in different species, indicating that at least some of the mechanisms that regulate their development have been evolutionarily conserved. The fruit fly Drosophila has become one of the premier model systems to study the processes of gastrulation, patterning processes that subdivide the mesoderm and regulatory events that control the differentiation of individual mesodermal tissues. It has become evident that many of these steps involve interplay between mesoderm-intrinsic regulators and spatially-restricted inductive signals that are released from ectodermal cells. The chapter discusses the insights into the genetic and molecular mechanisms of these regulatory interactions and provides framework for the understanding of mesoderm development not only in Drosophila , but also in other invertebrate and vertebrate species. The formation of the Drosophila mesoderm is largely determined by autonomous regulatory mechanisms that act within the nuclei or cells that acquire mesodermal fates.