Adult abnormalities resulting from a localized blastoderm defect in a maternal-effect mutant of Drosophila.

In the mutant mat(3)3 of Drosophila melanogaster, there is a temperature-sensitive maternal effect on blastoderm formation. When oogenesis occurs in homozygous mat(3)3 females at the fully restrictive temperature of 29°C, the embryonic progeny form a defective cellular blastoderm in which cells are either completely or partially missing from a posterior-dorsal region, and the embryos die before hatching. Transplantation tests for the presence in the embryos of primordial imaginal cells capable of developing into adult structures showed a relatively high yield of eye and antenna structures, an intermediate yield of labium structures, and low or zero yields of wing, haltere, and leg structures. These results are consistent with the fate mapping of the primordial imaginal cells by analysis of gynandromorph mosaics; the eye and antenna map in the fully cellular region of the mutant blastoderm, the labium near the border of the defective region, and the wing, haltere, and legs within the defective region. When oogenesis oocurs at a lower temperature, the lethal maternal effect in mat(3)3 is reversed, but there is a nonlethal effect on larval and adult progeny of the mat(3)3 females. Many of the adults are missing one or more cuticular structures, usually a leg, haltere, or abdominal segment, and many of the larvae are missing the corresponding imaginal discs from which the thoracic structures are derived. These selective effects on imaginal development appear to be caused by maternally induced blastoderm defects that are less extensive at the lower temperature of oogenesis.