[Autonomous determination for pigment formation inwhite position-effect ofDrosophila melanogaster].

Inwhite position-effect ofDrosophila melanogaster, determination for the potential of pigment formation of eye cells takes place at the end of the first larval instar. Eye discs, prior to or after this developmental stage, were transplanted together with some larval tissue into the abdomens of adult females. After a cultivation period of 5 to 7 days, the implants were transplanted back into larvae. Imaginal differentiation occurred in these metamorphosing hosts. It could be shown that eye disc cells become autonomously determined during the cultivation period. An influence of the larval tissues transplanted together with the eye discs on determination could not be demonstrated. Therefore, this determinative event most likely is independent on the specific larval milieu.