CELLULAR RESPONSE TO STRESS AND MORPHOGENESIS

During animal development the organism cells restrict their developmental potential while acquire the different cell fates. These cells' responses depend on the extracellular cues they perceive and intrinsic factors they express and often require the precise modification of gene expression in both time and space. For example, appendage formation requires the activation of a set of genes that specifies a group of cells that will proliferate and pattern to generate the characteristic adult structure. Understanding the molecular mechanism underlying appendage specification, patterning and growth control is important not only for developmental biology but also to understand many diseases such as cancer or congenital malformations where this process is de-regulated. To provide insights into this general problem, we have been focusing on appendage development in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster using genetic and molecular techniques.