The evagination of the genital imaginal discs ofDrosophila melanogaster

Summary

Morphogenetic movements of the intersexual genital disc of thedoublesex-dominant mutant ofDrosophila melanogaster were followed during metamorphosis. Intersexual genital discs contain well developed genital primordia of both sexes as well as an anal primordium, and all of these primordia evaginate simultaneously. The female genital primordium is deflected to the ventral side by the male genital primordium which is located anterior to it. Subsequently the anterior parts of the two genital primordia project their internal appendages in parallel in the anterior direction. The morphogenetic movements closely resemble those of the corresponding parts of normal males and females. The disc opens at the stalk along the posterior edge and the two genital primordia completely evert their posterior parts. These areas undergo complex rearrangements whereby the anlage for the male genital arch as well as that for the 8th tergite evert and move around the lateral side of the disc. They both fuse dorsally after enclosing the anal tube. The formation of the characteristic abnormalities of the intersexual genitalia seems not to result simply from spatial problems of the simultaneous evagination of the genital anlagen but rather to be a direct result of the ambiguous genetic signalling in the intersexual cells of these primordia.