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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Jul 22.
Published in final edited form as: Cell. 2011 Nov 11;147(4):742–758. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2011.10.033

Figure 2. Functions of PCD during development.

Figure 2

(A) PCD regulates proper structure sculpting by eliminating interdigital-webbings.

(B) During Drosophila metamorphosis nearly all larval structures are destroyed such as the Salivary glands (SG), Muscles (M), midgut (MG) and hindgut (HG). (depicted by purple), whereas novel structures are raised from undifferentiated cells termed imaginal discs (depicted by various colors). The locations and developmental fates of the imaginal discs are similarly illustrated.

PCD also controls cell number for example by deleting cells which fail to partner (C) and eliminates dangerous and abnormal cells such as autoreactive lymphocytes (D).