Auxin exposure disrupts feeding behavior and fatty acid metabolism in adult .

The ease of genetic manipulation in using the system has been beneficial in addressing key biological questions. Current modifications of this methodology to temporally induce transgene expression require temperature changes or exposure to exogenous compounds, both of which have been shown to have detrimental effects on physiological processes. The recently described auxin-inducible gene expression system (AGES) utilizes the plant hormone auxin to induce transgene expression and is proposed to be the least toxic compound for genetic manipulation, with no obvious effects on development and survival in one wild-type strain.

Auxin Exposure Disrupts Feeding Behavior and Fatty Acid Metabolism in Adult .

The ease of genetic manipulation in using the system has been beneficial in addressing key biological questions. Current modifications of this methodology to temporally induce transgene expression require temperature changes or exposure to exogenous compounds, both of which have been shown to have detrimental effects on physiological processes. The recently described auxin-inducible gene expression system (AGES) utilizes the plant hormone auxin to induce transgene expression and is proposed to be the least toxic compound for genetic manipulation, with no obvious effects on development and survival in one wild-type strain.

Effects of Gene Dose, Chromatin, and Network Topology on Expression in Drosophila melanogaster.

Deletions, commonly referred to as deficiencies by Drosophila geneticists, are valuable tools for mapping genes and for genetic pathway discovery via dose-dependent suppressor and enhancer screens. More recently, it has become clear that deviations from normal gene dosage are associated with multiple disorders in a range of species including humans. While we are beginning to understand some of the transcriptional effects brought about by gene dosage changes and the chromosome rearrangement breakpoints associated with them, much of this work relies on isolated examples.

The end of a monolith: Deconstructing the Cnn-Polo interaction.

In Drosophila melanogaster a functional pericentriolar matrix (PCM) at mitotic centrosomes requires Centrosomin-Long Form (Cnn-LF) proteins. Moreover, tissue culture cells have shown that the centrosomal localization of both Cnn-LF and Polo kinase are co-dependent, suggesting a direct interaction. Our recent study found Cnn potentially binds to and is phosphorylated by Polo kinase at 2 residues encoded by Exon1A, the initiating exon of a subset of Cnn isoforms.

An Amino-Terminal Polo Kinase Interaction Motif Acts in the Regulation of Centrosome Formation and Reveals a Novel Function for centrosomin (cnn) in Drosophila.

The formation of the pericentriolar matrix (PCM) and a fully functional centrosome in syncytial Drosophila melanogaster embryos requires the rapid transport of Cnn during initiation of the centrosome replication cycle. We show a Cnn and Polo kinase interaction is apparently required during embryogenesis and involves the exon 1A-initiating coding exon, suggesting a subset of Cnn splice variants is regulated by Polo kinase. During PCM formation exon 1A Cnn-Long Form proteins likely bind Polo kinase before phosphorylation by Polo for Cnn transport to the centrosome.

Diversity and dynamics of the Drosophila transcriptome.

Animal transcriptomes are dynamic, with each cell type, tissue and organ system expressing an ensemble of transcript isoforms that give rise to substantial diversity. Here we have identified new genes, transcripts and proteins using poly(A)+ RNA sequencing from Drosophila melanogaster in cultured cell lines, dissected organ systems and under environmental perturbations. We found that a small set of mostly neural-specific genes has the potential to encode thousands of transcripts each through extensive alternative promoter usage and RNA splicing.

Probing the boundaries of orthology: the unanticipated rapid evolution of Drosophila centrosomin.

The rapid evolution of essential developmental genes and their protein products is both intriguing and problematic. The rapid evolution of gene products with simple protein folds and a lack of well-characterized functional domains typically result in a low discovery rate of orthologous genes. Additionally, in the absence of orthologs it is difficult to study the processes and mechanisms underlying rapid evolution.

Global patterns of tissue-specific alternative polyadenylation in Drosophila.

We analyzed the usage and consequences of alternative cleavage and polyadenylation (APA) in Drosophila melanogaster by using >1 billion reads of stranded mRNA-seq across a variety of dissected tissues. Beyond demonstrating that a majority of fly transcripts are subject to APA, we observed broad trends for 3' untranslated region (UTR) shortening in the testis and lengthening in the central nervous system (CNS); the latter included hundreds of unannotated extensions ranging up to 18 kb. Extensive northern analyses validated the accumulation of full-length neural extended transcripts, and in situ hybridization indicated their spatial restriction to the CNS.

Transgenic tools for members of the genus Drosophila with sequenced genomes.

The sequencing of the genomes of 12 Drosophila species has created an opportunity for much in the way of comparative molecular analyses amongst these species. To aid that endeavor, we have made several transformation vectors based on the piggyBac transposon with 3xP3-EGFP and -ECFP transgenic markers that should be useful for mutagenesis and establishing the GAL4/UAS system in these species. We have tested the ability of mini-white to be used as a marker for insertional mutagenesis, and have observed mini-white derived pigmentation of the testes sheath in a subset of lines from D.

Centrosomin: a complex mix of long and short isoforms is required for centrosome function during early development in Drosophila melanogaster.

Centrosomin (Cnn) is a required core component in mitotic centrosomes during syncytial development and the presence of Cnn at centrosomes has become synonymous with fully functional centrosomes in Drosophila melanogaster. Previous studies of Cnn have attributed this embryonic function to a single isoform or splice variant. In this study, we present new evidence that significantly increases the complexity of cnn.

Cytological investigation of the mechanism of parthenogenesis in Drosophila mercatorum.

Thelytokous parthenogenesis (female progeny only) in animals is believed to arise initially in unfertilized eggs produced by bisexual females via the fusion of two haploid nuclei following meiosis, to produce diploid female progeny. The transition from sexual to parthenogenetic mechanisms of reproduction requires that the egg replace the paternal contributions of a haploid genetic complement and the basal body, which is thought to be essential for centrosome formation. The transitional facultative parthenogenetic stage is usually associated with a high rate of failed or abortive development, but the molecular and mechanistic reasons for this failure remain unclear.

centrosomin's beautiful sister (cbs) encodes a GRIP-domain protein that marks Golgi inheritance and functions in the centrosome cycle in Drosophila.

The mechanism of inheritance of the Golgi complex is an important problem in cell biology. In this study, we examine the localization and function of a Golgi protein encoded by centrosomin's beautiful sister (cbs) during cleavage in Drosophila melanogaster. Cbs contains a GRIP domain that is 57% identical to vertebrate Golgin-97.