Pichaud F, Desplan C
Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Department of Biology, New York University, 100 Washington Square East, New York NY 10003, USA.
Development. 2001 Mar;128(6):815-26. doi: 10.1242/dev.128.6.815.
The Drosophila eye is widely used as a model system to study neuronal differentiation, survival and axon projection. Photoreceptor differentiation starts with the specification of a founder cell R8, which sequentially recruits other photoreceptor neurons to the ommatidium. The eight photoreceptors that compose each ommatidium exist in two chiral forms organized along two axes of symmetry and this pattern represents a paradigm to study tissue polarity. We have developed a method of fluoroscopy to visualize the different types of photoreceptors and the organization of the ommatidia in living animals. This allowed us to perform an F(1) genetic screen to isolate mutants affecting photoreceptor differentiation, survival or planar polarity. We illustrate the power of this detection system using known genetic backgrounds and new mutations that affect ommatidial differentiation, morphology or chirality.
果蝇眼睛被广泛用作研究神经元分化、存活和轴突投射的模型系统。光感受器的分化始于起始细胞R8的特化，R8依次招募其他光感受器神经元进入小眼。组成每个小眼的八个光感受器以两种手性形式存在，沿两个对称轴排列，这种模式是研究组织极性的范例。我们开发了一种荧光透视法，以可视化活体动物中不同类型的光感受器和小眼的组织结构。这使我们能够进行F(1)遗传筛选，以分离影响光感受器分化、存活或平面极性的突变体。我们利用已知的遗传背景和影响小眼分化、形态或手性的新突变，展示了该检测系统的强大功能。
