Genome-wide screen for deficiencies modifying Cyclin G-induced developmental instability in Drosophila melanogaster

Despite extensive research, the genetic bases of developmental stability — the robustness to developmental noise — remains unknown. In Drosophila melanogaster, overexpressing a potentially more stable isoform of Cyclin G (da-Gal4, UAS-CycGΔP) results in high fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of the wings, indicating disrupted stability. Using this model, we screened 499 deficiencies corresponding to 90% of the euchromatic genome to identify genes or gene regions that modify FA levels. Each deficiency was combined with the da-Gal4, UAS-CycGΔP chromosome, after which the left and right wings of 30 females were measured. Two successive screens were performed. The primary screen identified 60 deficiencies that modify the FA of da-Gal4, UAS-CycGΔP. A secondary screen was then performed to confirm or refute the effect of these 60 deficiencies. Eight deficiencies that had no effect in the primary screen were added to this secondary screen to confirm their absence of effect. The dataset includes a readme file, two xls files showing the correspondence between each slide number and genotype, and two folders containing the measurements corresponding to each screen.