Gene expression changes in 48hr APF retinas and optic lobes in Blimp-1 loss of function and gain of function flies

Blimp-1 encodes a zinc-finger transcription factor, which is involved in the terminal differentiation of the Drosophila eye. We found that Blimp-1 mutants display plano-covex corneal lenses and rhabdomere extension defects. To identify genes that it regulates in the retina, we performed an RNA-seq experiemtn to compare retinas expressing Blimp-1 RNAi or UAS-Blimp-1 in all cell types in the eye with lGMR-GAL4 to control lGMR-GAL4/+. We examined RNA from dissected retinas and attached optic lobes from 48 hr APF pupae. Among the genes that were affected, we found that the transcription factor Slow border cells (Slbo) was significantly up-regulated in Blimp-1 knockdown samples, and Slbo overexpression could recapitulate Blimp-1 loss of function phenotypes. Many other affected genes may collectively contribute to the corneal lens and photoreceptor phenotypes caused by loss of Blimp-1.. Overall design: Three biological replicates were analyzed for each tissue (48hr APF retinas and optic lobes) in each condition (lGMR>Blimp-1 RNAi, lGMR>UAS Blimp-1, lGMR-GAL4/+..