The International Journal of Developmental Biology

Int. J. Dev. Biol. 52: 1043 - 1050 (2008)

https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.082608mb

Vol 52, Issue 8

Origin and proliferation of blastema cells during regeneration of Drosophila wing imaginal discs

Original Article | Published: 1 October 2008

Manel Bosch1, Jaume Baguñà1 and Florenci Serras*,1,2

1Departament de Genètica, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona and 2Institut de Biomedicina de la Universitat de Barcelona (IBUB), Barcelona, Spain

Abstract

Following a period of neglect, there has been a resurgence of interest in Drosophila imaginal discs as a model with which to analyze the relationships between growth and pattern formation during regeneration. To broaden our understanding of this process, we used cell lineage techniques to trace the origin of blastema cells and the early and late boundaries of the blastema in regenerating 3/4 wing disc fragments, examined the distribution of S-phase, mitotic and dead cells, and undertook clonal analysis to determine the topology of cell proliferation and its relationship to pattern formation. Using lineage tagging with the JNK phosphatase puckered (puc), we demonstrate that a substantial number of blastema cells arise from cells in which JNK is activated. Furthermore, we show that DNA synthesis and mitosis are activated well before wound healing is completed, in a region where the JNK pathway is activated; later, DNA synthesis and mitosis are observed in scattered cells throughout the blastema. Finally, clonal analysis shows a close relationship between the size and shape of clones and disparities in the positional values of the apposed surfaces.

Keywords

regeneration, imaginal disc, cell proliferation, blastema, pattern formation

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