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When neurobiology and genetics meet: the study of visual system development in Drosophila melanogaster
1Programa de Biologia Molecular, Instituto de Biofisica Carlos Chagas Filho, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Bloco G, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
Abstract:
The visual system of Drosophila melanogaster is an exceptionally well suited model to study the molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying inter- and intracellular signalling during nervous system development. This review highlights some of the recent advances in this field, that show not only the power of the combined neurobiological and genetical approaches in shedding new light into long standing questions regarding nervous system development but also uncover a striking evolutionary conservation, at the molecular level, of the basic developmental pathways and signal transduction cascades underlying metazoan ontogenesis.