The last decade has seen an enormous expansion in the genetic toolbox of model organisms. This has been particularly apparent in the fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster, in which the development of these tools and their ongoing extension, along with the completion of the genome sequence has allowed for the analysis of most any process. One particularly elegant example of tool development was the creation of the GAL4/UAS system for targeted gene expression in Drosophila. In addition to helping make Drosophila one of the most genetically tractable metazoans, this system has also helped Drosophila attract attention from the biotechnology industry as a viable means to investigate the function of genes implicated in a wide variety of medically and economically important processes. In this article, we review the GAL4/UAS system in Drosophila and the numerous extensions that have morphed it into a veritable Swiss army knife for the analysis of gene function.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/gene.10150

GAL4 system in Drosophila: a fly geneticist's Swiss army knife.

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(05)00789-X.pdf

Molecular, anatomical, and functional organization of the Drosophila olfactory system

http://web.stanford.edu/group/luolab/Pdfs/Luo_Callaway_Svoboda_Neuron_2008.pdf

Genetic dissection of neural circuits.

A dynamic epicardial injury response supports progenitor cell activity during zebrafish heart regeneration.

https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(10)00178-9.pdf

The Q System: A Repressible Binary System for Transgene Expression, Lineage Tracing, and Mosaic Analysis

Shigeo Hayashi,* Kei Ito, Yukiko Sado, Misako Taniguchi, Ai Akimoto, Hiroko Takeuchi, Toshiro Aigaki, Fumio Matsuzaki, Hideki Nakagoshi, Teiichi Tanimura, Ryu Ueda, Tadashi Uemura, Motojiro Yoshihara, and Satoshi Goto National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Shizuoka-ken, Japan Department of Genetics, Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Mishima, Shizuoka-ken, Japan Riken Center for Developmental Biology, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan National Institute for Basic Biology Myodaiji, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan Department of Biology, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan Department of Developmental Neurobiology, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Japan Okayama University Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama, Japan Department of Biology, Graduate School of Sciences, Kyushu University, Ropponmatsu, Fukuoka, Japan Mitsubishi Kagaku Institute of Life Sciences, Tokyo, Japan Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute for Virus Research, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan Center for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/gene.10137

GETDB, a database compiling expression patterns and molecular locations of a collection of gal4 enhancer traps

Enhancer trapping allows the detection of genomic transcriptional enhancers and provides a rich source of cell- and region-specific markers in Drosophila. We report here the development of a P-element-based enhancer-trap vector with a nuclear red fluorescent protein (DsRed) reporter for enhancer detection. We demonstrate that this vector can be used for a standard enhancer-trap screen as well as for targeted replacement of previously characterized P-element insertions. We isolated DsRed insertion strains of hedgehog, patched, apterous, teashirt, and dachshund that label specific regions of imaginal discs. The time required for red fluorescence maturation in the eye imaginal disc was estimated to be 22.5 hr. The DsRed markers can be combined with green fluorescent protein markers for double labeling of living Drosophila tissues.

Ai Akimoto

Papers

GETDB, a database compiling expression patterns and molecular locations of a collection of gal4 enhancer traps

Enhancer trapping with a red fluorescent protein reporter in Drosophila.