Mapping domains of gene expression in the Malpighian tubule of Drosophila melanogaster by enhancer trapping

Sözen, M. Ali (1996) Mapping domains of gene expression in the Malpighian tubule of Drosophila melanogaster by enhancer trapping. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The Malpighian tubule of Drosophila melanogaster is a valuable epithelial model for developmental, physiological and genetic studies. A set of 700 P{GAL4} enhancer-trap lines of D. melanogaster was screened for patterned -galactosidase reporter gene expression in the Malpighian tubules. Of these, around 20% show some internal patterning within tubules, and 1% appeared to be specific to tubule cell subpopulations.

Staining patterns were compared and used to chart the patterns of gene expression in the tubule. By counterstaining nuclei with ethidium bromide, it proved possible to assemble a numerical map of the cell types in each tubule subdomain. It was found that tubules could be subdivided into at least five sub-domains and multiple cell types defined by gene expression. Remarkably, the patterns of gene expression and the numbers of both principal and secondary ("stellate") cell types within each domain, are reproducible to single-cell precision between individual animals.

The numbers of cells, both in the whole tubule and in individual compartments, are practically invariant both between individuals of a particular line and between lines. Comparison with the regions previously identified by morphological or physiological techniques, revealed that a genetic boundary can always be found which corresponds with the known division. In addition, several new subdomains are proposed from enhancer trap analysis alone; additional experiments confirm the physiological significance of the proposed subdivisions.

This is the first epithelium to be subjected to such a genetic analysis, and these results confirm the utility of enhancer trapping as a means of identifying genetic boundaries which can subsequently be shown to correspond with functional tissue domains

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: Q Science > QH Natural history > QH426 Genetics
• Colleges/Schools: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Molecular Biosciences > Molecular Biosciences
• Supervisor's Name: Dow, Dr. J.A.T. and Kaiser, Dr. Kim
• Date of Award: 1996
• Depositing User: Elaine Ballantyne
• Unique ID: glathesis:1996-2115
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 21 Sep 2010
• Last Modified: 10 Dec 2012 13:51
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/2115