F-box proteins are components of the SCF （SkpA-Cullin 1-F-box） E3 ligase complexes, acting as the specificity-determinants in targeting substrate proteins for ubiquitination and degradation. In humans, at least 22 out of 75 F-box proteins have experimentally documented substrates, whereas in Drosophila 12 F-box proteins have been characterized with known substrates. To systematically investigate the genetic and molecular functions of F-box proteins in Drosophila, we performed a survey of the literature and databases. We identified 45 Drosophila genes that encode proteins containing at least one F-box domain. We collected publically available RNAi lines against these genes and used them in a tissue-specific RNAi-based phenotypic screen. Here, we present our systematic phenotypic dataset from the eye, the wing and the notum. This dataset is the first of its kind and represents a useful resource for future studies of the molecular and genetic functions of F-box genes in Drosophila. Our results show that, as expected, F-box genes in Drosophila have regulatory roles in a diverse array of processes including cell proliferation, cell growth, signal transduction, and cellular and animal survival.
Technology development has always been one of the forces driving breakthroughs in biomedical research. Since the time of Thomas Morgan, Drosophilists have, step by step, developed powerful genetic tools for manipulating and functionally dissecting the Drosophila genome, but room for improving these technologies and developing new techniques is still large, especially today as biologists start to study systematically the functional genomics of different model organisms, including humans, in a high-throughput manner. Here, we report, for the first time in Drosophila, a rapid, easy, and highly specific method for modifying the Drosophila genome at a very high efficiency by means of an improved transcription activator-like effector nuclease （TALEN） strategy. We took advantage of the very recently developed ＂unit assembly＂ strategy to assemble two pairs of specific TALENs designed to modify the yellow gene （on the sex chromosome） and a novel autosomal gene. The mRNAs of TALENs were subsequently injected into Drosophila embryos. From 31.2% of the injected Fo fertile flies, we detected inheritable modification involving the yellow gene. The entire process from construction of specific TALENs to detection of inheritable modifications can be accomplished within one month. The potential applications of this TALEN-mediated genome modification method in Drosophila are discussed.
