H2.0 is primarily expressed in the visceral primordia of the mesoderm and the expression persists throughout visceral development. H2.0 transcripts are located at approximately the same position and depth in the embryo as tin transcripts.

H2.0 transcripts are expressed throughout development with the greatest abundance in 6-24hr embryos. They are first detected at stage 10 at the point of flexure where the invaginating posterior midgut primordium folds back against the extended germ band. In stage 11, H2.0 expression is found in a single layer of mesodermal cells nearest the yolk, along the entire length of the germ band from the posterior midgut to the anterior midgut invagination. This expression occurs in two bands that lie on either side of the midline. From late stage 11, H2.0 is expressed in all cells that are destined to form visceral musculature. Transcripts also begin to accumulate in ectodermal cells just anterior to the tracheal pits in each parasegment. At later stages, expression is limited to a thin sheet of visceral muscle cells enveloping the midgut, to a segmentally repeated structure of the ventro-lateral hypoderm and to a small patch of muscle in dorsal anterior T1.