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Generation and characterization of inner photoreceptor‐specific enhancer‐trap lines using a novel piggyBac‐Gal4 element in Drosophila
Author(s) -
Terzioğlu Kara Ece,
Kiral Ferdi Rıdvan,
Öztürk Çolak Arzu,
Çelik Arzu
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
archives of insect biochemistry and physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.576
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1520-6327
pISSN - 0739-4462
DOI - 10.1002/arch.21675
Subject(s) - biology , enhancer trap , enhancer , imaginal disc , drosophila melanogaster , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , intron , transposable element , drosophila (subgenus) , genetics , retina , gene expression , mutant , neuroscience
The Drosophila inner photoreceptors R7 and R8 are responsible for color vision and their differentiation starts at the third instar larval stage. Only a handful of genes with R7 or R8‐cell‐specific expression are known. We performed an enhancer‐trap screen using a novel piggyBac transposable element, pBGay, carrying a Gal4 sequence under the control of the P promoter to identify novel genes expressed specifically in R7 or R8 cells. From this screen, three lines were analyzed in detail: piggyBac AC109 and piggyBac AC783 are expressed in R8 cells and piggyBac AC887 is expressed in R7 cells at the third instar larval stage and pupal stages. Molecular analysis showed that the piggyBac elements were inserted into the first intron of CG14160 and CG7985 genes and the second intron of unzipped . We show the expression pattern in the developing eye imaginal disc, pupal retina as well as the adult retina. The photoreceptor‐specific expression of these genes is reported for the first time and we propose that these lines are useful tools for studying the development of the visual system.