Project description:One function of plant lectins is to serve as defenses against herbivorous insects. The midgut is the critical site affected by dietary lectins such as wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). We observed marked cellular structural and gene expression changes in Drosophila melanogaster third-instar larval midguts from insects WGA-fed or starved. Dietary WGA caused shortening, branching, swelling, distortion and in some cases disintegration of the midgut microvilli (Mv). Starvation was accompanied by shortening of the Mv. Microarray analyses revealed that dietary WGA evolved differential expression of 62 transcripts; seven of which were also differentially expressed in starved insects. The differentially regulated gene cluster in WGA-fed larvae were associated with (i) cytoskeletal organization, (ii) immune responses, (iii) detoxification reactions, and (iv) energy metabolism. Four putative transcription factor binding motifs (TFBMs) were associated with the differentially-expressed genes. At least one of these putative TFBMs exhibited substantial similarity to MyoD, a TFBM associated with cellular structures in mammals. These results are in keeping with the hypothesis that WGA causes a starvation-like effect as well as structural changes of midgut cells of Drosophila third-instar larvae. Keywords: stress response
Project description:The larval ovary is made up of multiple cell types including germ cells and somatic cells. The diversity of cell types and transcriptional regulation is not fully understood. To get single cell resolution of larval ovary regulation, we generated single-cell RNA expression profiles (scRNA-Seq) from late third instar larval ovaries of a reference Drosophila melanogaster genotype w[1118].
Project description:We used RNA-seq in a derived European Drosophila melanogaster population from Germany (MU) to examine coding gene expression variation in the larval fat body during the late wandering third instar stage.
Project description:Survival of insects on a substrate containing toxic substances such as plant secondary metabolites or insecticides is dependent on the metabolism or excretion of those xenobiotics. The primary sites of xenobiotic metabolism are the midgut, Malpighian tubules and fat body. In general, these organs are treated as single tissues by online databases, but several studies have shown that gene expression within subsections of the midgut is compartmentalized. In this article, RNA sequencing analysis was used to investigate whole-genome expression in subsections of the third-instar larval midgut. The results support functional diversification in subsections of the midgut. Analysis of the expression of gene families that are implicated in the metabolism of xenobiotics suggests that metabolism may not be uniform along the midgut. These data provide a starting point for investigating gene expression and xenobiotic metabolism in the larval midgut.
Project description:One function of plant lectins is to serve as defenses against herbivorous insects. The midgut is the critical site affected by dietary lectins such as wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). We observed marked cellular structural and gene expression changes in Drosophila melanogaster third-instar larval midguts from insects WGA-fed or starved. Dietary WGA caused shortening, branching, swelling, distortion and in some cases disintegration of the midgut microvilli (Mv). Starvation was accompanied by shortening of the Mv. Microarray analyses revealed that dietary WGA evolved differential expression of 62 transcripts; seven of which were also differentially expressed in starved insects. The differentially regulated gene cluster in WGA-fed larvae were associated with (i) cytoskeletal organization, (ii) immune responses, (iii) detoxification reactions, and (iv) energy metabolism. Four putative transcription factor binding motifs (TFBMs) were associated with the differentially-expressed genes. At least one of these putative TFBMs exhibited substantial similarity to MyoD, a TFBM associated with cellular structures in mammals. These results are in keeping with the hypothesis that WGA causes a starvation-like effect as well as structural changes of midgut cells of Drosophila third-instar larvae. Experiment Overall Design: Three treatments (control, WGA, and Starvation), and three replicates for each treatment. So there are total nine samples. no dye-swap.
Project description:The lymph gland is one of the main larval hematopoietic organin in Drosophila melanogaster. In wnandering third instar larav, it is composed of two pairs of anterior lobes, followed by 2 to 3 pair of posterior lobes. To gain further insight into the gene expression repertoire of Drosophila blood cells, we established the gene expression profiles of third instar larva lymph glands anterior and posterior lobes.
Project description:Survival of insects on a substrate containing toxic substances such as plant secondary metabolites or insecticides is dependent on the metabolism or excretion of those xenobiotics. The primary sites of xenobiotic metabolism are the midgut, Malpighian tubules and fat body. In general, these organs are treated as single tissues by online databases, but several studies have shown that gene expression within subsections of the midgut is compartmentalized. In this article, RNA sequencing analysis was used to investigate whole-genome expression in subsections of the third-instar larval midgut. The results support functional diversification in subsections of the midgut. Analysis of the expression of gene families that are implicated in the metabolism of xenobiotics suggests that metabolism may not be uniform along the midgut. These data provide a starting point for investigating gene expression and xenobiotic metabolism in the larval midgut. Examination of expression in eight samples corresponding to compartments of gene expression in the midgut
