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Updated: Aug 30, 2026

Methods to Examine the Lymph Gland and Hemocytes in Drosophila Larvae
Published on: November 28, 2016
Thicker than blood: conserved mechanisms in Drosophila and vertebrate hematopoiesis
Cory J Evans1, Volker Hartenstein, Utpal Banerjee
1Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Abstract:
Blood development in Drosophila melanogaster shares several interesting features with hematopoiesis in vertebrates, including spatiotemporal regulation as well as the use of similar transcriptional regulators and signaling pathways. In this review, we describe what is known about hematopoietic development in Drosophila and the various cell types generated and their functions. Additionally, the molecular genetic mechanisms of hematopoietic cell fate determination and commitment within Drosophila blood cell lineages are discussed and compared to vertebrate mechanisms.
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