title: Does Unc-GFP uncover ciliary structures in the rhabdomeric eye of Drosophila?
abstract: The uncoordinated (unc) gene product, a potential ortholog of mammalian orofaciodigital syndrome 1 (Ofd1), is involved in the assembly of the ciliary axoneme in Drosophila and it is, therefore, constrained to cell types that have ciliary structures, namely type 1 sensory neurons and male germ cells. Here, we show that evenly spaced Unc-GFP spots are present in the eye imaginal discs of third-instar larvae. These spots are restricted to the R8 photoreceptor cell of each ommatidium in association with mother centrioles. This finding is unexpected because the Drosophila eye is of the rhabdomeric type and would be expected to lack ciliary structures.
authors.affiliation: University of Siena, Department of Life Sciences, Via A. Moro 2, 53100 Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gottardo
authors.affiliation: University of Siena, Department of Life Sciences, Via A. Moro 2, 53100 Siena, Italy callaini@unisi.it.
authors.forename: Giuliano
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2252-0309
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Callaini
authors.affiliation: University of Siena, Department of Life Sciences, Via A. Moro 2, 53100 Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Giovanna
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Riparbelli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002502:Centrioles / Q000378:metabolism; D002923:Cilia / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D060227:Imaginal Discs / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D017956:Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C488771:UNC protein, Drosophila; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins
keywords: Ciliary structures; Drosophila; Rhabdomeric eye; Unc expression