Christopher Potter

art

Fluorscent Flies

OneNeuro Initiative - Fluorscent Flies Page Image

Lab: Christopher Potter Laboratory
School: SOM
Department: Neuroscience

Controlling transgene expression is vital for experimentally addressing many biological questions. The Q repressible binary expression system is a powerful method of directing such expression- only when the QF transcription factor and the QUAS-reporter are together in the same animal does one get targeted expression. Shown is a false colored image of flies (Drosophila melanogaster) expressing the QF transcription factor throughout the fly body as detected by a fluorescent reporter. Appearing as “ghosts” are flies which contain only the fluorescent reporter that would normally appear completely dark, but here the bright fluorescent light shining from their neighbors enables them to be detected.