Lecture 4 Flashcards
What is a Drosophila melanogaster and why is it used in labs?
It’s a fruit/banana fly that is used as a model organism since it’s genome is well studied and 60% of the mutations in human genome have a counterpart in the Drosophila melanogaster.
What are P-elements?
DNA sequence that can move around in the genome either causing or sometimes fixing mutations,
What is enhancer trapping?
The P-elements can sometimes move a reporter gene from one part of the genome with a weak promoter to another place with an enhancer which will activate the reporter gene.
What is the GAL4-UAS system and what is it used for?
It’s a way to study gene expression and is a sort of enhancer trapping. Instead of a reporter gene GA14 is used which binds to the UAC sequence. The GA14 when activated will also activate the nearby genes which can be used to study gene expression.
What is GAL180 and how does it work?
It binds to GA14 and prevents it from binding with UAC but when the temperature is above 29 degrees the protein will release and transcription can occur.
What is RNAi and how does it work?
It can be used as a way to silence genes since it will degrade the mRNA template.
