Gene expression changes in CNS and muscle in barentsz mutants

Barentsz (Btz) encodes a subunit of the exon junction complex (EJC), which is involved in post-transcriptional regulation. We found that Btz has functions in neuromuscular development in the Drosophila larva that are independent of the EJC. To identify the genes that it regulates in this process, we carried out an RNA-seq experiment to compare btz2/Df(3R)BSC497 to control btz2/+ tissues. We examined RNA from dissected central nervous systems and carcasses from third-instar larvae. Among the genes that were affected, we found that dawdle (daw) was down-regulated in both tissues. daw encodes an Activin famiily ligand that regulates neuromuscular synapse growth, and we found that daw overexpression could rescue the synapse growth phenotype of btz mutants. Overall design: Three biological replicates were analyzed for each tissue (third-instar larval CNS or muscle) in each condition (btz/+ or btz/Df).