Regulation of gene networks in photoperception-related functions by the CRX/OTX homologue Otd in Drosophila

Comparative global gene expression analysis was caried out using pupal head tissue of otd-uvi an eye specific mutant allele of Otd and wild type control Canton S., in order to delineate the function of homeobox transcription factor Otd in Drosophila photoreceptor development and function. Keywords: genetic modification The Drosophila strain Canton S was used as wild type for comparative gene expression analysis with the mutant strain otd-uvi. For each biological replicate, samples were derived from independent RNA extractions consisting of 15-20 pupal heads. Pupae were dissected at 80 hr APF and immediately transferred to 600ul of trizol (GIBCO/BRL). RNA extraction was performed according to manufacturers instructions. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the total RNA was carried out by capillary electrophoresis on a RNA6000 Nano Assay chip, with Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer (Agilent Technologies USA) Biotin labeled probes were generated from 10ug total RNA according to Affymetrix protocol.