Transcriptomic signatures of flight muscle, brain and leg tissues during Drosophila pupal development

Alternative splicing produces multiple, distinct mRNA transcripts from the same gene locus. To explore tissue-type specific gene expression and alternative splicing, we generated mRNA-Seq data from pupal tissues dissected from Drosophila. This allowed us to compare expression between dissected, highly enriched brain and indirect flight muscle (IFM) samples as well as whole legs. Bioinformatic analysis allowed us to characterize tissue-specific differences in gene expression as well as alternative splicing among the three tissues, as well as to identify a multitude of novel splicing events that are not currently contained in the Drosophila annotation. This suggests that tissue or cell-type specific sequencing at multiple timepoints during the fly life cycle will help extend existing annotations, and novel splice junction discovery is an important consideration in mRNA-Seq data analysis. Overall design: Analysis of differential gene expression and exon use among Drosophila wildtype (w1118) tissues at 72h APF, including brain, indirect flight muscle (IFM) and whole leg.