A central issue in developmental biology is to identify genes that are involved in specifying cell types in the appropriate spatial patterns. This issue will be investigated by identifying genes and gene products involved in the specification of different sensory organs in the fruit fly. The newly developed FLP recombinase system will be used to screen for mutations that cause defects in sensory organ pattern or development. Using this method, essential genes with early lethal phases can be detected and phenotypes of recessive mutations can be observed in the F1 generation. More generally, these studies have the potential for identifying genes that play a role in neuronal and epithelial differentiation in a variety of species.
