Pattern regulation in fragments of Drosophila wing discs which show variable wound healing.

When complementary fragments of the imaginal wing disc of Drosophila are cultured for several days prior to inducing metamorphosis, usually one fragment will regenerate while the second duplicates. It has been proposed that wound healing plays an important part in disc regulation by initiating cell proliferation and determining the mode of regulation (regeneration/duplication). To test the latter proposal 15 types of wing disc fragments were examined for variability both in the mode of wound healing and the mode of pattern regulation. Two modes of wound healing were observed, regular - the two wound edges heal with each other, and irregular - each wound edge heals with itself. When cultured separately fragments that healed regularly regenerated, while fragments that healed irregularly duplicated. This suggests that the mode of wound healing determines the mode of pattern regulation.