Project description:We report the proteome composition of the Drosophila eye – a compound organ that is highly enriched in membrane proteins. The fly eye is a popular model to study the physiology of vision by means of genetic, pharmacological, and dietary interference.While the eye transcriptome and development-related changes of gene expression profiles have been extensively studied, little is known about the eye proteome.we employed GeLC-MS/MS to identify and rank the abundances of 3516 eye proteins. Moreover, we applied our MS Western method to determine the absolute (molar) abundances of a related set of proteins that are important for photoreceptor structure (including maintenance) and function (phototransduction). Altogether, we provide a comprehensive and expandable proteomics resource that will be valuable for a variety of studies of ocular biochemistry, physiology, and development.
Project description:Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are vital in determining the specificity of translation. Mutations in tRNAs can result in the mis-incorporation of amino acids into nascent polypeptides in a process known as mistranslation. Here, our goal was to test the impacts of different types of mistranslation in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, as impact of mistranslation depends on the type of amino acid substitution. We created two fly lines - one expressing a serine tRNA variant with valine anticodon and the other with a serine tRNA variant with a threonine anticodon. Using mass spectrometry, we measure the amount of mistranslation at various points in fly development.
Project description:Transcriptional analysis of dInR and dfoxo epistasis in Drosophila melanogaster. The experiment was performed to examine which parts of the transcriptional response to a reduction in insulin signalling in an adult female fly depend on the presence of the dfoxo transcription factor. Whole fly transcriptome was determined with flies over-expressing a dominant negative form of the insulin receptor, or the wild-type fly, in presence or absence of dfoxo.
