Transcriptome profile in Drosophila Kc and S2 embryonic cell lines

The Elongation Factor 1 Alpha Promoter Drives the Functional Expression of Kir2A in Plutella xylostella Cells

Cell lines and their corresponding expression plasmids are extensively utilized in the study of insect physiology and pathology. In this research, four single-cell cultured lines (Px4-1 to Px4-4) of Plutella xylostella were established from eggs. The promoter for the P. xylostella elongation factor 1α (PxEF1α), known for its high driving activity in cells, was cloned and used to construct expression plasmids. Dual-luciferase activity assays and EGFP expression analyses demonstrated that the PxEF1α promoter exhibited the strongest driving activity in Px4-2 cells, comparable to that of the immediate-early 1 promoter associated with the homologous region 5 enhancer (AcIE1hr5) from the Autographa californica multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV). In contrast, the driving activity of PxEF1α in cells derived from Spodoptera frugiperda, Trichoplusia ni, and Helicoverpa armigera was lower. Furthermore, the PxEF1α promoter was successfully employed to drive inward rectifier potassium 2A (Kir2A) expression in Px4-2 cells. The electrophysiological properties of the insect Kir2A channel were successfully characterized for the first time. It was observed that the PxKir2A channel possesses typical inward rectifier potassium channel properties and can be inhibited by nanomolar concentrations of VU625 and VU590. This study offers a novel approach for the expression and investigation of foreign gene function in insect cells and provides a valuable tool for the in-depth study of key biomolecules in P. xylostella.

REV1 coordinates a multi-faceted tolerance response to DNA alkylation damage and prevents chromosome shattering in Drosophila melanogaster

When replication forks encounter damaged DNA, cells utilize damage tolerance mechanisms to allow replication to proceed. These include translesion synthesis at the fork, postreplication gap filling, and template switching via fork reversal or homologous recombination. The extent to which these different damage tolerance mechanisms are utilized depends on cell, tissue, and developmental context-specific cues, the last two of which are poorly understood. To address this gap, we have investigated damage tolerance responses in Drosophila melanogaster. We report that tolerance of DNA alkylation damage in rapidly dividing larval tissues depends heavily on translesion synthesis. Furthermore, we show that the REV1 protein plays a multi-faceted role in damage tolerance in Drosophila. Larvae lacking REV1 are hypersensitive to methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) and have highly elevated levels of γ-H2Av (Drosophila γ-H2AX) foci and chromosome aberrations in MMS-treated tissues. Loss of the REV1 C-terminal domain (CTD), which recruits multiple translesion polymerases to damage sites, sensitizes flies to MMS. In the absence of the REV1 CTD, DNA polymerases eta and zeta become critical for MMS tolerance. In addition, flies lacking REV3, the catalytic subunit of polymerase zeta, require the deoxycytidyl transferase activity of REV1 to tolerate MMS. Together, our results demonstrate that Drosophila prioritize the use of multiple translesion polymerases to tolerate alkylation damage and highlight the critical role of REV1 in the coordination of this response to prevent genome instability.

Transcription factor expression landscape in Drosophila embryonic cell lines

BACKGROUND

Transcription factor (TF) proteins are a key component of the gene regulatory networks that control cellular fates and function. TFs bind DNA regulatory elements in a sequence-specific manner and modulate target gene expression through combinatorial interactions with each other, cofactors, and chromatin-modifying proteins. Large-scale studies over the last two decades have helped shed light on the complex network of TFs that regulate development in Drosophila melanogaster.

RESULTS

Here, we present a detailed characterization of expression of all known and predicted Drosophila TFs in two well-established embryonic cell lines, Kc167 and S2 cells. Using deep coverage RNA sequencing approaches we investigate the transcriptional profile of all 707 TF coding genes in both cell types. Only 103 TFs have no detectable expression in either cell line and 493 TFs have a read count of 5 or greater in at least one of the cell lines. The 493 TFs belong to 54 different DNA-binding domain families, with significant enrichment of those in the zf-C2H2 family. We identified 123 differentially expressed genes, with 57 expressed at significantly higher levels in Kc167 cells than S2 cells, and 66 expressed at significantly lower levels in Kc167 cells than S2 cells. Network mapping reveals that many of these TFs are crucial components of regulatory networks involved in cell proliferation, cell-cell signaling pathways, and eye development.

CONCLUSIONS

We produced a reference TF coding gene expression dataset in the extensively studied Drosophila Kc167 and S2 embryonic cell lines, and gained insight into the TF regulatory networks that control the activity of these cells.

Organogenetic transcriptomes of the Drosophila embryo at single cell resolution

To gain insight into the transcription programs activated during the formation of Drosophila larval structures, we carried out single cell RNA sequencing during two periods of Drosophila embryogenesis: stages 10-12, when most organs are first specified and initiate morphological and physiological specialization; and stages 13-16, when organs achieve their final mature architectures and begin to function. Our data confirm previous findings with regards to functional specialization of some organs - the salivary gland and trachea - and clarify the embryonic functions of another - the plasmatocytes. We also identify two early developmental trajectories in germ cells and uncover a potential role for proteolysis during germline stem cell specialization. We identify the likely cell type of origin for key components of the Drosophila matrisome and several commonly used Drosophila embryonic cell culture lines. Finally, we compare our findings with other recent related studies and with other modalities for identifying tissue-specific gene expression patterns. These data provide a useful community resource for identifying many new players in tissue-specific morphogenesis and functional specialization of developing organs.