Application of temperature-sensitive mutations to oncogene studies in Drosophila

Recessive oncogenes are genetic functions important in the regulation of ti ssue growth and differentiation. These genetic functions are defined on the basis of the phenotype expressed by homozygotes. Defining the role of thes e genes in normal developmental and physiological processes is important to the development of accurate models of the normal regulation of growth and differentiation. Drosophila can be a good system to investigate the neoplas tic mechanism of oncogenes and provide a greater understanding in the devel opmental progression of both invertebrates and vertebrates. The lethal (2) giant larvae gene is a recessive oncogene of Drosophila and temperature sen sitive mutations of this gene have been isolated. Here, the application of temperature-sensitive mutations in Drosophila oncogene studies is discussed .