Genetic and molecular mechanisms of neurogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster.

Cells of the neurogenic ectoderm of insects have to decide between a neural and an epidermal fate. In Drosophila, this decision id mediated by cellular interactions. The products of two different groups of genes, i.e., the neurogenic genes and the genes of the achaete-scute complex and daughterless, seem to provide the molecular basis for the elements of a signal chain that permits the commitment of the cells to a given fate.