Functional analysis of nuclear proteins in the Drosophila male germ-line. (360G-Wellcome-086896_Z_08_Z)

Understanding cell type specific regulation of gene expression is critical for understanding differentiation in multi-cellular organisms. The male germ-line is a unipotent cell type, committed only to making sperm. During spermatogenesis dramatic changes in gene expression occur, to facilitate the differentiation of highly specialised cells. We have previously identified a group of testis specific transcriptional regulators important for this spermatogenesis specific gene expression in Drosop hila. We will test the TEV protease system for cleavage of target proteins in the Drosophila male germ-line with known factors, and develop a P-element replacement exon tagging approach to allow specific ablation of potentially many target proteins in a controlled manner. We will test this approach by initiating the analysis of testis-specific functions of conserved potential transcriptional regulators that act in both the male germ-line and in other cell types, concentrating on a small set of proteins for which we already have localisation data and functional predictions.