Timing and heritability of theNasobemia transformation inDrosophila

Nasobemia (Ns) is a dominant homeotic mutant ofDrosophila melanogaster which converts parts or all of the antenna to mesothoracic leg.Ns has a temperature sensitive period between 48 and 60 h. The hypothesis thatNs acts during this period and is not required thereafter to maintain the homeotic transformation to leg was tested by removingNs fromNs/+ cells at different stages of development through X-ray induced somatic recombination. The expression of theNs homeotic transformation in recombinant wild type (+/+) cells increased sharply between 48 and 65 h. In clones induced after 65 h the expression of the leg transformation was equal in large and small +/+ clones. We interpret these results as supporting the hypothesis that transient action ofNs between 48 and 65 h switches antennal cells to a clonally stable leg determined state whose maintenance does not require futherNs action.