Function of the wingless signaling pathway in Drosophila

Signaling by the wingless pathway has been shown to govern numerous developmental processes. Much of our current understanding of wingless signaling mechanisms comes from studies conducted in Drosophila melanogaster, which offers superior experimental tractability for genetic and developmental studies. Wingless signaling is highly consequential during normal development and patterning of Drosophila. Its earliest identifiable role during development of Drosophila is in the embryonic segmentation cascade, wherein wingless functions as a segment polarity gene and serves to pattern each individual segment along the antero-posterior axis of the developing embryo. Subsequent developmental roles fulfilled by wingless include patterning the developing wings, legs, eyes, CNS, heart, and muscles. Each of these developmental contexts offers excellent systems to query mechanisms regulating different aspects of wingless signal transduction such as synthesis, secretion, reception, and transcription. This chapter presents a brief overview on the functions of wingless signaling during development of Drosophila melanogaster.