huckebein is required for glial development and axon pathfinding in the neuroblast 1-1 and neuroblast 2-2 lineages in the Drosophila central nervous system.

huckebein encodes a predicted zinc finger transcription factor which is transiently expressed in a subset of Drosophila central nervous system precursors (neuroblasts (NBs)). We used DiI cell lineage tracing and cell fate markers to investigate the role of huckebein in the NB 1-1 and NB 2-2 cell lineages. Loss of huckebein does not switch these NBs into different NB fates, nor does it change the number of cells in their lineages; rather, it is required for glial development in the NB 1-1 lineage, and for axon pathfinding of a subset of interneurons and motoneurons in both lineages.