Assessment of Chemical Toxicity in Adult Drosophila Melanogaster.

Human industries generate hundreds of thousands of chemicals, many of which have not been adequately studied for environmental safety or effects on human health. This deficit of chemical safety information is exacerbated by current testing methods in mammals that are expensive, labor-intensive, and time-consuming. Recently, scientists and regulators have been working to develop new approach methodologies (NAMs) for chemical safety testing that are cheaper, more rapid, and reduce animal suffering.

Enteroendocrine cell expression of split-GAL4 drivers bearing regulatory sequences associated with panneuronally expressed genes in .

In , hormone-secreting enteroendocrine cells are important for communication from the midgut to other tissues. Many lexA, GAL4, and split-GAL4 drivers that direct gene expression in enteroendocrine cells also confer expression in hormone-secreting cells of the central nervous system. This study examines the midgut expression of selected lexA, GAL4, and split-GAL4 transgenes carrying enhancer fragments previously associated with panneuronal gene expression to assess the experimental usefulness of these drivers for distinguishing the endocrine influences of CNS versus midgut cells on physiological processes.

Identification of novel split-GAL4 drivers for the characterization of enteroendocrine cells in the Drosophila melanogaster midgut.

The Drosophila melanogaster midgut is commonly studied as a model epithelial tissue for many reasons, one of which is the presence of a diverse population of secretory cells called enteroendocrine cells. Subpopulations of these cells secrete various combinations of peptide hormones which have systemic effects on the organism. Many of these hormones are also produced in the Drosophila brain.

Identification of Split-GAL4 Drivers and Enhancers That Allow Regional Cell Type Manipulations of the Intestine.

The adult midgut is a model epithelial tissue composed of a few major cell types with distinct regional identities. One of the limitations to its analysis is the lack of tools to manipulate gene expression based on these regional identities. To overcome this obstacle, we applied the intersectional split-GAL4 system to the adult midgut and report 653 driver combinations that label cells by region and cell type.