RESUMEN
High resolution MRI of live Drosophila was performed at 18.8 Tesla, with a field of view less than 5 mm, and administration of manganese or gadolinium-based contrast agents. This study demonstrates the feasibility of MR methods for imaging the fruit fly Drosophila with an NMR spectrometer, at a resolution relevant for undertaking future studies of the Drosophila brain and other organs. The fruit fly has long been a principal model organism for elucidating biology and disease, but without capabilities like those of MRI. This feasibility marks progress toward the development of new in vivo research approaches in Drosophila without the requirement for light transparency or destructive assays.
Asunto(s)
Drosophila melanogaster/metabolismo , Imagen por Resonancia Magnética/métodos , Animales , Encéfalo/patología , Cloruros/farmacología , Medios de Contraste/farmacología , Biología Evolutiva/instrumentación , Biología Evolutiva/métodos , Diseño de Equipo , Estudios de Factibilidad , Gadolinio DTPA/farmacología , Procesamiento de Imagen Asistido por Computador/métodos , Espectroscopía de Resonancia Magnética/métodos , Compuestos de Manganeso/farmacología , Reproducibilidad de los Resultados , Programas InformáticosRESUMEN
In virtually all animals, males and females are morphologically, physiologically and behaviorally distinct. Using cDNA microarrays representing one-third of Drosophila genes to identify genes expressed sex-differentially in somatic tissues, we performed an expression analysis on adult males and females that: (1) were wild type; (2) lacked a germline; or (3) were mutant for sex-determination regulatory genes. Statistical analysis identified 63 genes sex-differentially expressed in the soma, 20 of which have been confirmed by RNA blots thus far. In situ hybridization experiments with 11 of these genes showed they were sex-differentially expressed only in internal genital organs. The nature of the products these genes encode provides insight into the molecular physiology of these reproductive tissues. Analysis of the regulation of these genes revealed that their adult expression patterns are specified by the sex hierarchy during development, and that doublesex probably functions in diverse ways to set their activities.
Asunto(s)
Drosophila melanogaster/crecimiento & desarrollo , Perfilación de la Expresión Génica , Regulación del Desarrollo de la Expresión Génica , Genoma , Diferenciación Sexual/fisiología , Animales , Proteínas de Unión al ADN/metabolismo , Proteínas de Drosophila/metabolismo , Drosophila melanogaster/anatomía & histología , Drosophila melanogaster/fisiología , Femenino , Genitales/anatomía & histología , Genitales/fisiología , Masculino , Datos de Secuencia Molecular , Análisis de Secuencia por Matrices de Oligonucleótidos , Diferenciación Sexual/genéticaRESUMEN
Molecular genetic studies of Drosophila melanogaster have led to profound advances in understanding the regulation of development. Here we report gene expression patterns for nearly one-third of all Drosophila genes during a complete time course of development. Mutations that eliminate eye or germline tissue were used to further analyze tissue-specific gene expression programs. These studies define major characteristics of the transcriptional programs that underlie the life cycle, compare development in males and females, and show that large-scale gene expression data collected from whole animals can be used to identify genes expressed in particular tissues and organs or genes involved in specific biological and biochemical processes.