EPITHELIAL DIFFERENTIATION IN DROSOPHILA

Our understanding of epithelial development in Drosophila has been gre atly improved in recent years. Two key regulators of epithelial polari ty, Crumbs and DE-cadherin, have been studied at the genetic and molec ular levels and a number of additional genes are being analyzed that c ontribute to the differentiation of epithelial cell structure. Epithel ial architecture has a profound influence on morphogenetic movements, patterning and cell-type determination. The combination of embryologic al and genetic/molecular tools in Drosophila will help us to elucidate the complex events that determine epithelial cell structure and how t hey relate to morphogenesis and other developmental processes.