Drosophila research in Glasgow

Drosophila is the consummate model organism, with an ideal blend of biomedical relevance and genetic power. Drosophila research in Glasgow is focussed in the Integrative and Systems Biology theme, reflecting our interest in exploiting the power of this developmental model for the new biology.

Drosophila functional genomics

Professor Julian Dow is interested in the functional genomics of the Malpighian (renal) tubule, using a combination of physiology, forward and reverse genetics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics. The tubule is one of the very few truly quantitative phenotypes in Drosophila, and so makes an ideal system to establish function of novel genes involved in transport, signalling, or metabolism.

This interest has led to the establishment of the FlyAtlas.org expression resource for the fly community.

Other work is focussed on exploiting Drosophila as a model for disease vectors such as mosquitoes, and industry-funded research is devoted to the identification of new insecticide targets.

Selected References

Chintapalli, V. R., Wang, J., and Dow, J. A. T. (2007)  Using FlyAtlas to identify better Drosophila melanogaster models of human disease Nature Genetics 39, 6, 715-720

Cell Signalling

Prof Shireen Davies studies the control of epithelial and immune function, using transgenic reporter gene technologies to allow less invasive, more physiological, measurement of dynamic cellular parameters. She was part of the group which developed the world's first animal transgenic for the calcium reporter, aequorin, here in Glasgow.

Much of her work focusses on the second messengers cyclic AMP, cyclic GMP and calcium, and their interactions that control the immune response in Drosophila.

Selected References

Davies, S. A. (2006) Signalling via cGMP: Lessons from Drosophila Cellular Signalling 18, 4, 409-421

Genes, Circuits and Behaviour

Dr Stephen Goodwin's laboratory uses the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, to study the genetic, developmental, and neural mechanisms that underlie sex-specific behaviours in higher animals. In particular, the elaborate courtship ritual performed by the male fly has provided remarkable insights into how the neural circuitry underlying sexual behaviour, which is largely innate in flies, is built into the nervous system during development, and how this circuitry functions in the adult.  Innate behaviours refer to the actions of an animal that manifest themselves without prior experience, and thus by implication are genetically inherited. Yet how does gene expression control the development and function of the nervous system so that a gene's action influences some discernible aspect of behaviour? We are studying how the Drosophila transcription factor genes fruitless and doublesex act within the complex and highly organized network of transcription factors to orchestrate the developmental events necessary for sex-specific behaviours and physiology, and the broader lessons this can teach us about the mechanisms underlying the development of sex-specific neural circuitry.

Selected References

Rideout, E.J., Billeter, J-C., and Goodwin, S.F. (2007) The sex determination genes fruitless and doublesex specify a neural substrate required for courtship song production. Current Biology, 17, 1473-1478

Billeter, J-C., Villella, A., Allendorfer, J.B., Dornan, A., Richardson, M., Gailey, D.A., and Goodwin, S. F. (2006) Isoform-specific control of male neuronal differentiation and behavior in Drosophila by the fruitless gene. Current Biology, 16, 1-14

Billeter, J-C., Rideout, E., Dornan, A., and Goodwin, S. F. (2006) Control of Male Sexual Behavior in Drosophila by the Sex Determination Pathway. Current Biology 16, 17, R766-R776