flyatlas.org: a new gene expression resource for Drosophila

Flyatlas.org

We are happy to announce a new gene expression
resource for Drosophila functional genomics: an
Affymetrix microarray-based atlas of gene
expression in adult. We chose the adult, because
embryonic expression time-series are already
available to the community, and because
expression in the embryo does not imply that this
is the only important function of a gene.

With this resource, you can easily look up any
gene of interest to you, and find out where it is
most abundant in the fly, and how specifically it
is enriched in that tissue. This should be a
major timesaver when investigating a new gene,
because functional genomics implies functional
analysis- so this resource will tell you which
tissue to focus on first. Conversely, if you are
already interested in specific tissues, we have
‘top 50’ lists of the genes most enriched in
those tissues – a happy hunting ground for interesting projects.

Samples were run with 4 biological replicates on
the Affymetrix Drosophila genome 2 chip, which
has probe sets for over 18500 transcripts. It is
thus relatively authoritative and
comprehensive. At present, the atlas covers
brain, head (including brain – and yes, the two
samples are different), midgut, Malpighian tubule
and hindgut (including rectum). Samples for
testes and ovary are underway: we are happy to
entertain offers of quality mRNA samples from
other defined adult tissues, or of high-level bioinformatics collaboration.

For scriptwriters, programmed calls to the database are possible, e.g.
[Only registered users see links. ]
You can search with FBgn, CG number, Affy oligo, gene symbol or free text.

We are presently preparing a MS for submission,
and would welcome feedback or suggestions from
users: please email me directly. Until this MS is
published, please cite our previous paper (Wang
et al. (2004). Function-informed transcriptome
analysis of Drosophila renal tubule. -
[Only registered users see links. ]) which
illustrates this principle for the Malpighian tubules.

These data were prepared and placed in the public
domain as a service to the Drosophila community,
by the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences
Research Council (BBSRC) through their
Investigating Gene Function (IGF) initiative.
Over the last 4 years, our facility has provided
1000 free Affymetrix arrays to the UK fly
community. Further details at: [Only registered users see links. ]

Enjoy!
Julian Dow ([Only registered users see links. ].ac.uk)
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Prof. Julian A.T. Dow
IBLS Division of Molecular Genetics,
University of Glasgow, Glasgow G11 6NU, UK
Phone: +44 141 330 4616 FAX: +44 141 330 4878
email: [Only registered users see links. ] WWW: fly.to/tubules