Fusion of circular and longitudinal muscles in Drosophila is independent of the endoderm but further visceral muscle differentiation requires a close contact between mesoderm and endoderm
In this study we describe the morphological and genetic analysis of the Drosophila mutant gurtelchen (gurt). gurt was identified by screening an EMS collection for novel mutations affecting visceral mesoderm development and was named after the distinct belt shaped visceral phenotype. Interestingly, determination of visceral cell identities and subsequent visceral myoblast fusion is not affected in
