Project description:A method for the long-term maintenance of germ-free flies was established using aseptic isolators. The methodology effectively and reliably yields large numbers of germ-free flies in homogeneous cultures. Germ-free flies exhibited increased lifespan (only female flies) and decreased egg production, markedly reduced fat storage, less midday sleep, and enhanced aggressiveness (male flies). Fructilactobacillus—a species of fly intestinal microbes—was re-colonized in germ-free flies, and these gnotobiotic flies were successfully maintained for numerous generations. The proteome of those flies were analyzed.
Project description:Drosophila X chromosomes are subject to dosage compensation in males and are known to have a specialized chromatin structure in the male soma. We are interested in how specific chromatin structure change contributes to X chromosome hyperactivity and dosage compensation. We have conducted a global analysis of localize two dosage compensation complex dependent histone marks H4AcK16 and H3PS10 and one dosage compensation complex independent histone mark H3diMeK4 in the genome, especially on X chromosome by ChIP-chip approach in both male and female adult flies. We also probed general genomewide chromatin structure by deep DNA sequencing of sheared ChIP input DNA from male and female adult flies.
Project description:Disruption of learning and memory can occur for a number of reasons including chronic alcohol abuse, head injury, anoxia, and various neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. An understanding of the basic mechanisms underlying learning and memory is essential for prevention and treatment of such brain disorders. Recent studies unequivocally demonstrated the astonishing similarities in the basic mechanisms of learning and memory between divergent species, indicating that studies of experimentally tractable model organisms with relatively simpler nervous systems are likely to produce valuable information that will facilitate our understanding of learning and memory in higher organisms. We are studying the experience-dependent modification in Drosophila male courtship as a physiologically relevant model of learning and memory. The genome-scale gene-profiling analysis in this model system should provide us the basic information about learning-induced changes in gene expression, which will be the foundation of our future studies to identify genes and genetic pathways specifically involved in the formation of long-term memory. The proposed gene-profiling experiment is designed to identify candidate genes and genetic pathways involved in the formation of long-term memory in the Drosophila courtship conditioning. The specific aims of this project are to: 1) compare gene expression profiles between the naive and trained wild type males using the GeneChip Drosophila Genome 2.0 Arrays and identify genes that are up- or down-regulated in the fly head immediately or 24-hr after the male fly is exposed to the condition where the long-term courtship memory is established (i.e., paired with a mated female for 7 hrs), 2) carry out the same analysis for the per null mutant males, 3) compare the identified genes between the 0 and 24-hr after training as well as the wild type and per mutant males, 4) identify candidate genes which might be involved in the long-term memory formation either upstream or downstream of per, 5) classify the candidate genes according to their putative cellular function and discern the possible genetic pathways necessary for the long-term memory formation. When a male fly is presented with a previously mated female, he will initially court her vigorously but his courtship activity is reduced over time. Subsequently, when paired with a virgin female, the male will display a reduced amount of courtship compared with naïve males with no prior courtship experience. This modification of courtship is called âcourtship conditioningâ. We found that this type of courtship memory lasts at least 5 days when a male is trained with a mated female for 7 hrs. We have also found that the period gene (per) that is involved in circadian rhythm regulation plays a critical role in the formation of long-term, but not short-term, courtship memory. Our hypotheses are 1) the long-lasting memory in 7 h-trained males is accompanied with characteristic temporal changes in gene expression in the brain, 2) per mutant males are defective in regulation of critical genes involved in long-term courtship memory, 3) the memoryârelated changes in gene expression can be detected by comparing total head transcript levels between trained and naïve as well as the wild type and the per mutant males using the Affymetrix microarray. Two fly strains, a wild type Oregon R (OR) and a null mutant allele of per (per01) with the OR background for the second and third chromosomes, will be used. Virgin males and females will be collected without anesthesia within 6 hrs after eclosion and maintained individually in vials until experiments. Mated wild type females will be prepared by crossing to the wild type males the night before they are used for conditioning males. All flies will be raised at 25oC in a 12 h light/12 h dark cycle and the following behavioral experiments will be carried out during daytime. For courtship conditioning, a 3 day-old virgin male (either OR or per01) will be placed with a mated OR female in a conditioning chamber (15 mm x 5 mm in depth) containing fly food. As a control, a virgin male will be introduced into another conditioning chamber without a mated female. Seven hours after the male is introduced into the chamber, he will be anesthetized under CO2 gas or transferred to a new vial. For the anesthetized male, the head will be immediately excised and frozen with liquid nitrogen. The male fly transferred to a new vial will be decapitated 24 hrs after the end of the 7-hr training. Approximately thirty fly heads will be pooled for each of the 8-genotype/treatment groups, i.e., Oregon R 0-hr and 24-hr after conditioning, per01 0-hr and 24-hr after conditioning, in addition to the corresponding four naïve controls. Total RNA will be extracted from the pooled heads using the TRIzol Reagent (Life Technologies) followed by an RNeasy (Qiagen) cleanup step and a DNAase I digestion step. After purification, the RNA will be resuspended in DEPC water and the absorbance will be checked at 260 and 280 nm for determination of sample purity and concentration. The GeneChip Drosophila Genome 2.0 Arrays will be used to quantify the levels of transcripts in each sample.
Project description:Because pink1-mutant flies exhibit a global shutdown of protein synthesis, we decided to measure the levels of individual proteins in adult flies through quantitative proteomics.
Project description:Five different mitochondrial strains were introgressed in male and female fruit flies with identical (w1118) nuclear genetic background.
Project description:Alternative pre-mRNA splicing (AS) is a critical regulatory mechanism that operates extensively in the nervous system to produce diverse protein isoforms. Fruitless AS isoforms have been shown to influence male courtship behavior, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Using genome-wide approaches and quantitative behavioral assays, we show that the P element somatic inhibitor (PSI) and its interaction with U1 snRNP control male courtship behavior. PSI mutants lacking the U1 snRNP-interacting domain (PSIΔAB mutant) exhibit extended but futile mating attempts. The PSIΔAB mutant results in significant changes in the AS patterns of ~1,200 genes in the Drosophila brain, many of which have been implicated in the regulation of male courtship behavior. PSI directly regulates the AS of at least a third of these transcripts, suggesting that PSI-U1 snRNP interactions coordinate the behavioral network underlying courtship behavior. Importantly, one of these direct targets is fruitless — the master regulator of courtship. Thus, PSI imposes a specific mode of regulatory control within the neuronal circuit controlling courtship, even though it is broadly expressed in the fly nervous system. This study reinforces the importance of AS in the control of gene activity in neurons and integrated neuronal circuits, and provides a surprising link between a pleiotropic pre-mRNA splicing pathway and the precise control of successful male mating behavior.
Project description:Hypoxia plays a key pathogenic role in the outcome of many pathologic conditions. To elucidate how organisms successfully adapt to hypoxia, a population of Drosophila melanogaster was generated, through an iterative selection process, that is able to complete its lifecycle at 4% O2, a level lethal to the starting parental population. Transcriptomic analysis of flies adapted for >200 generations was performed to identify pathways and processes that contribute to the adapted phenotype, comparing gene expression of three developmental stages with generation-matched control flies. A third group was included, hypoxia-adapted flies reverted to 21% O2 for five generations, to address the relative contributions of genetics and hypoxic environment to the gene expression differences. We identified the largest number of expression differences in 0.5-3 hr post-eclosion adult flies that were hypoxia-adapted and maintained in 4% O2, and found evidence that changes in Wnt signaling contribute to hypoxia tolerance in flies. A population of flies able to complete their life cycle at 4% O2 was selected from a starting population of 27 isogenic D. melanogaster lines exposed to increasingly lower O2 levels over many generations. Transcriptomic analysis of adapted flies maintained at 4% O2 or reverted to room air for five generations, and of generation matched naive controls, was performed to better understand changes in gene expression in adapted flies and to investigate the relative contributions of genetics versus environment to these differences.