Effect of reducing insulin signaling on third instar larval fat body gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster

We characterized insulin receptor (InR)-dependent gene expression in the Drosophila fat body using transgenic RNAi. Chronic knockdown of InR in the fat body was elicited via (r4-GAL4, UAS-InRi) and RNA-seq was used to identify potential target genes. Drosophila were reared on control (0.15 M sucrose) or high sugar (0.7 M sucrose) diets until the wandering third instar stage. Control (r4-GAL4 x w1118) offspring were compared with InRi (r4-GAL4 x UAS-InRi) using the VDRC's w1118 (#60000) or UAS-RNAi targeting InR (#992). Fat bodies were isolated, and RNA was extracted to determine the effects of reduced insulin signaling on gene expression using Illumina RNA-seq.