Activation of Ftz-F1-responsive genes through Ftz/Ftz-F1 dependent enhancers. Drosophila melanogaster

The orphan nuclear receptor Ftz-F1 is expressed in all somatic nuclei in Drosophila embryos but mutations result in a pair-rule phenotype. Previously characterized Ftz-F1 target genes were co-regulated by Ftz, which is expressed in stripes, consistent with the pair-rule phenotype observed for ftz-f1 and ftz mutants. However, attempts to identify new target genes on the basis of Ftz-F1 and Ftz binding sites alone has met with only limited success. To discern the rules for Ftz-F1 target site selection in vivo and to identify additional target genes, a microarray analysis was performed comparing wildtype and ftz-f1 mutant embryos. Overall design: Drosophila embryos from a cross between w[118] males and FRT germ-line clone ftz-f1 females or FRT germ-line clone w[118] females were hand selected at 3 stages of development (5, 6 and 8) for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays. --------------------------------- The authors state that "Affymetrix CEL files have been lost."