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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2022.12.27.522021

A toolkit for converting Gal4 into LexA and Flippase transgenes in Drosophila

Karuparti, S.·Yeung, A. T.·Wang, B.·Guicardi, P. F.·Han, C.
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Abstract

Drosophila has been a powerful model system for biological studies due to the wide range of genetic tools established for it. Among these tools, Gal4 is the most abundant, offering unparalleled tissue- and developmental stage-specificity for gene manipulation. In comparison, other genetic reagents are far fewer in choices. Here we present a genetic toolkit for converting Gal4 strains into LexA and Flippase transgenes through simple genetic crosses and fluorescence screening. We demonstrate the proof-of-principle by converting ten Gal4 lines that exhibit diverse tissue specificities and examined the activity patterns of the converted LexA and Flippase lines. Gal4-to-LexA and Flp conversion is fast and convenient and should greatly expand the choices of LexA and Flp for binary expression and FRT-based mosaic analysis, respectively, in Drosophila.

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Karuparti, S., Yeung, A. T., Wang, B., Guicardi, P. F., Han, C.. 2022-12-27. A toolkit for converting Gal4 into LexA and Flippase transgenes in Drosophila. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.12.27.522021

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