Mutant follicle cell clones frequently disrupt the development of the dorsal appendages if the clones extend into dorsal-anterior regions of the egg chamber. Ventral mutant follicle cell clones do not affect embryonic development. Large clones which extend from the ventral to the dorsal side result in local distortions of the dorsoventral pattern of the embryo. Dorsal anterior clones result in larvae whose head skeleton and thoracic denticles are largely deleted, while the ventral denticle rows of the first abdominal segment are expanded. Dorsal follicle cell clones that do not extend to the ventrolateral side of the egg can comprise up to 70 cells without affecting embryonic development, while clones of a similar size which extend from the ventral to the dorsal side invariably cause cuticle defects, with the larvae showing deletions of cuticle elements along the anteroposterior axis which correspond to the position of the clone in the eggshell.
