NEURONAL SPECIFICITY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT IN THE DROSOPHILA WING DISC AND ITS DERIVATIVES

The imaginal wing disc of flies gives rise to the adult wing blade and dorsal thorax (notum). A great deal has been learned in recent years about the process of neurogenesis in this disc; a number of genes that play crucial roles in the formation of sensory mother cells and in th e differentiation of the sensory organs have been identified and their roles defined. Given this extensive background of developmental genet ics, it has seemed profitable to summarize what is known about the end -products of neural development, the adult sensory organs. Discussed a re their physiological function and role in behavior, the pathways fol lowed by their axons in the CNS, and both genes and epigenetic process es that might play some role in the later stages of neural development and in adult function. The highly individual characteristics of certa in of the sensory organs is emphasized, both in the context of their a dult roles and as a challenge for future studies in developmental gene tics.