Expression profiling of Drosophila imaginal discs

Background  

In the Drosophila larva, imaginal discs are programmed to produce adult structures at metamorphosis. Although their fate is precisely determined, these organs remain largely undifferentiated in the larva. To identify genes that establish and express the different states of determination in discs and larval tissues, we used DNA microarrays to analyze mRNAs isolated from single imaginal discs.