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Genetic Screens to Identify New Notch Pathway Mutants in Drosophila

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Notch Signaling

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1187))

Abstract

Notch signaling controls a wide range of developmental processes, including proliferation, apoptosis, and cell fate specification during both development and adult tissue homeostasis. The functional versatility of the Notch signaling pathway is tightly linked with the complexity of its regulation in different cellular contexts. To unravel the complexity of Notch signaling, it is important to identify the different components of the Notch signaling pathway. A powerful strategy to accomplish this task is based on genetic screens. Given that the developmental context of signaling is important, these screens should be customized to specific cell populations or tissues. Here, I describe how to perform F1 clonal forward genetic screens in Drosophila to identify novel components of the Notch signaling pathway. These screens combine a classical EMS (ethyl methanesulfonate) chemical mutagenesis protocol along with clonal analysis via FRT-mediated mitotic recombination. These F1 clonal screens allow rapid phenotypic screening within clones of mutant cells induced at specific developmental stages and in tissues of interest, bypassing the pleiotropic effects of isolated mutations. More importantly, since EMS mutations have been notoriously difficult to map to specific genes in the past, I briefly discuss mapping methods that allow rapid identification of the causative mutations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, 1250 Moursund St. Ste. 1150, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Nikolaos Giagtzoglou

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  1. Nikolaos Giagtzoglou
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Correspondence to Nikolaos Giagtzoglou .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept.of Molecular and Human Genetics, Program in Developmental Biology, Dept. of Neuroscience, Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA

    Hugo J. Bellen

  2. Dept. of Molecular and Human Genetics, Program in Developmental Biology, Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA

    Shinya Yamamoto

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Giagtzoglou, N. (2014). Genetic Screens to Identify New Notch Pathway Mutants in Drosophila . In: Bellen, H., Yamamoto, S. (eds) Notch Signaling. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1187. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1139-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1139-4_2

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-1138-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-1139-4

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