title: Early development of the thoracic discs ofDrosophila.
abstract: We estimate the number of blastoderm cells which generate the thoracic imaginal discs ofDrosophila. At hatching the wing disc is twice the size of the haltere disc, but the results suggest that both discs develop from a similar number of blastoderm cells. Two homeotic mutations, which transform the haltere into wing, affect embryonic growth but not the primordial number. All the segmental primordia may be of similar size and each may be similarly subdivided into a larger anterior, and a smaller posterior polyclone.
authors.affiliation: MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, CB2 2QH, Cambridge, England.
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biologia Molecular, C.S.I.C., Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Canto Blanco, Madrid 34, Spain.
authors.forename: Gines
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Morata
keywords: Bithorax mutants; Drosophila; Gynandromorphs; Primordial size; Segmentation