title: The GAL4 system : a versatile system for the expression of genes.
abstract: Over the past decade the adoption and refinement of the GAL4 system by the Drosophila field has resulted in a wide array of tools with which the researcher can drive transgene expression in a precise spatiotemporal pattern. The GAL4 system relies on two components: (1) GAL4, a transcriptional activator from yeast, which is expressed in a tissue-specific manner and (2) a transgene under the control of the upstream activation sequence that is bound by GAL4 (UASG). The two components are brought together in a simple genetic cross. In the progeny of the cross, the transgene is only transcribed in those cells or tissues expressing the GAL4 protein. Recent modifications of the GAL4 system have improved the control of both the initiation and the spatial restriction of transgene expression. Here we describe the GAL4 system highlighting the properties that make it a powerful tool for the analysis of gene function in Drosophila and higher organisms.
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, and Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.forename: Andrea H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Brand
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics*; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian; D015870:Gene Expression; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D016678:Genome; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000379:methods; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D013752:Tetracycline / Q000494:pharmacology; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D019076:Transgenes
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C052130:GAL4 protein, S cerevisiae; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; D013752:Tetracycline