Normal function of the mushroom body defect gene of Drosophila is required for the regulation of the number and proliferation of neuroblasts.

In the developing central nervous system of Drosophila, proliferation follows a reproducible and well-described spatial and temporal pattern. This pattern involves a defined number and distribution of neural stem cells (neuroblasts), as well as a precisely regulated time course of division of these neuroblasts. We show that mutations in the mushroom body defect (mud) gene interfere with the regulation of this pattern in a rather specific manner. In the abdominal neuromeres a subset of neuroblasts prolongs the period of proliferation. Additional daughter cells persist into the imago. Similar defects are expressed in the anterior ventral nerve cord and in the lateral central brain region. In the mushroom body cortex, however, mutations in mud affect the proliferation pattern by increasing the number of neuroblasts. These additional neuroblasts behave like normal mushroom body neuroblasts according to their time course of proliferation and the specification of their progeny.