Adult flies mutant for RetKO or bearing somatic MARCM clones mutant for RetKO display significant decrease in midgut stem cell proliferation (assessed by number of pH3-positive cells or number of cells per clone, respectively) both during normal homeostasis and ageing and during chemical damage-induced regeneration. However, the number of stem cell per midgut as well as the ratios of their differentiated progeny are comparable to those observed in wild-type flies.