Three-dimensional fate map of the female genital disc ofDrosophila melanogaster.

The female genital disc ofDrosophila melanogaster was cut into distinct fragments, and the prospective fates of the fragments were determined by putting them through metamorphosis in host larvae. The dorsal epithelium contains the anlagen for the anal plates and parovaria, as well as the repressed male genital primordium. The ventral epithelium gives rise to all of the female genital structures except for the parovaria. The results were compared with published fate maps and observations made in experiments with sex-transforming mutations. This allowed us to establish a detailed three-dimensional fate map of the female genital disc, which shows a well-developed female genital primordium in the ventral epithelium, a repressed male genital primordium in the anterior part of the dorsal epithelium and an anal primordium in the posterior region of the dorsal disc epithelium.