Cell specific profiling of neurons expressing differnet neurotransmitters during Drosophila development

In order to gain a greater understanding of neurotransmitter specification we profiled the transcription state of cholinergic, GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons in vivo at multiple developmental time points. We identified 86 differentially expressed transcription factors that are uniquely enriched, or uniquely depleted, in a specific neurotransmitter subtype. Some transcription factors show a similar profile across development, others only show enrichment or depletion at specific developmental stages. Profiling of acj6 (cholinergic enriched) and Ets65A (cholinergic depleted) binding sites in vivo reveals that they both directly bind the ChAT locus, in addition to a wide spectrum of other key neuronal differentiation genes. Overall design: Profiling of RNA Polymerase II occupancy in different neurotransmitter populations of neurons in Drosophila, at different developmental stages. Also profiling of acj6 and Ets65A-RA genomic binding in the Drosophila brain.