Dynamics of decapentaplegic expression during regeneration of the Drosophila melanogaster wing imaginal disc.

Regeneration of an imaginal disc involves highly ordered proliferation and pattern regulation of the newly formed tissue. Although the general principles of imaginal disc regeneration have been extensively studied, knowledge of the underlying molecular mechanisms is far from complete. Results from other model organisms suggest that regeneration is the result of local recapitulation of the normal patterning genes. To analyze the dynamics of one major Drosophila patterning gene, decapentaplegic (dpp), in wing imaginal disc regeneration, a vital GFP reporter together with iontophoretic cell labeling were used. Our observations reveal that the restoration of compartment-border-specific dpp expression is a common event in imaginal disc regeneration. However, we did not find evidence of an upregulation of dpp expression during the regeneration process.