A. Prokop et Gm. Technau, BRDU INCORPORATION REVEALS DNA-REPLICATION IN NON DIVIDING GLIAL-CELLS IN THE LARVAL ABDOMINAL CNS OF DROSOPHILA, Roux's archives of developmental biology, 204(1), 1994, pp. 54-61
Glial cells are of significant importance for central nervous system d
evelopment and function. In in sects, knowledge of the types and devel
opment of CNS glia is rather low. This is especially true for postembr
yonic glial development. Using bromodeoxyuridine incorporation and enh
ancer trap lines we identified a reproducible spatial and temporal pat
tern of DNA replicating cells in the abdominal larval CNS (A3-7 neurom
eres) of Drosophila melanogaster. These cells correspond to em bryonic
ally established glial cells in that region. Except for a specific sub
fraction, these cells apparently do not divide during larval life. Sim
ilar patterns were found in two other Drosophila species, D. virilis a
nd D. hydei.