Effect of EcR RNAi on wandering third instar larval fat body gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster

We compared ecdysone receptor (EcR)-dependent gene expression in the Drosophila fat body on 0.15 M sucrose and 0.5 M sucrose high-sugar diets in order to gain insight into the role of this gene during caloric overload. Phenotypic analyses showed an increased severity of EcR RNAi phenotypes with increasing dietary sugar concentration. Because EcR is a transcription factor, we performed RNA-seq studies to identify transcriptional targets that might underlie insulin resistance downstream of EcR RNAi. Control and fat body-expressed EcR RNAi Drosophila were reared on control (0.15 M sucrose) and high-sugar (0.5 M sucrose) diets until the wandering stage. Fat bodies were isolated and RNA extracted to determine the effects of diet on gene expression using Illumina RNA-seq.