Early neurogenesis in wild-typeDrosophila melanogaster

Abstract

This paper deals with morphological aspects of early neurogenesis inDrosophila, in particular with the segregation of neuroblasts from the neurogenic region of the ectoderm and the pattern formed by those wells within both the germ band and the procephalic lobe. The neurogenic ectoderm was found to contain neural precursors intermingled with epidermal precursors, extending from the midline up to the primordia of the tracheal tree along the germ band and laterodorsally in the procephalic lobe. Germ band neuroblasts segregate from the neurogenic ectoderm during a period of several hours according to characteristic spatial and temporal patterns. During the first half of the segregation process the pattern of germ band neuroblasts was found to be the same in different animals in both spatial arrangement and number of cells; this permitted the identification of individual neuroblasts from different embryos. Later in development several difficulties were encountered which precluded an exact description of the neuroblast pattern. The constitution of the neurogenic region is discussed in relation to the phenotype of mutants affecting neurogenesis.