Signal integration during development: Insights from the Drosophila eye

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Abstract
The Drosophila eye is a highly ordered epithelial tissue composed of ∼750 subunits called ommatidia arranged in a reiterated hexagonal pattern. At higher resolution, observation of the constituent photoreceptors, cone cells, and pigment cells of the eye reveals a highly ordered mosaic of amazing regularity. This relatively simple organization belies the repeated requirement for spatially and temporally coordinated inputs from the Hedgehog (Hh), Wingless (Wg), Decapentaplegic (Dpp), JAK‐STAT, Notch, and receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signaling pathways. This review will discuss how signaling inputs from the Notch and RTK pathways, superimposed on the developmental history of a cell, facilitate context‐specific and appropriate cell fate specification decisions in the developing fly eye. Lessons learned from investigating the combinatorial signal integration strategies underlying Drosophila eye development will likely reveal cell–cell communication paradigms relevant to many aspects of invertebrate and mammalian development. Developmental Dynamics 229:162–175, 2004.