The pattern of cell death in fushi tarazu, a segmentation gene of Drosophila

Abstract

The pair-rule mutant, fushi tarazu, causes deletion of alternate metameres. Here we show that there is cell death in the mutant which begins at the completion of germ band extension. We map the dying cells in the epidermis; they occur scattered all over those regions that, in the wild type, would form the even-numbered parasegments and are also found in posterior parts of the odd-numbered parasegments. In the affected zones, dying and dividing cells are intermingled; we suggest that cells from these zones may still give descendents that contribute to the larval cuticle. Cell death is not limited to those cells that would normally express ftz+, suggesting that it is some indirect consequence of the abnormal situation in the mutant embryo.