Investigating the in vivo functions of non-coding RNAs in Drosophila melanogaster
The number of annotated non-protein coding genes has increased dramatically in recent years, but the functions of very few are well understood. In this thesis, I study the functions of two classes of non-coding RNA in <em>Drosophila melanogaster</em>. Firstly, through characterisation of...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2015
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| _version_ | 1826303216386572288 |
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| author | Schwarz, J |
| author2 | Ponting, C |
| author_facet | Ponting, C Schwarz, J |
| author_sort | Schwarz, J |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | The number of annotated non-protein coding genes has increased dramatically in recent years, but the functions of very few are well understood. In this thesis, I study the functions of two classes of non-coding RNA in <em>Drosophila melanogaster</em>. Firstly, through characterisation of six putative long non-coding RNA loci containing transposon insertions, I identified a long non-coding RNA, <em>lnc703</em>, suitable for in depth characterisation. Using a GAL4/UAS fluorescent reporter I found <em>lnc703</em> to be expressed in the larval fat body and confirmed this using qRT-PCR. Transcriptome profiling identified ribosomal genes as upregulated in two independent <em>lnc703</em> mutant strains. Additionally, I have identified decreased lifespan in some <em>lnc703<sup>gal4</sup></em> strains and it will be interesting to determine whether there is a relationship between increased ribosomal protein gene expression and reduced lifespan. I also used transcriptome profiling of the musculature and CNS of miR-8 null larvae to determine tissue specific targets of miR-8. Many indirect effects of miR-8 were detected but using MRE prediction algorithms a number of potentially direct targets of miR-8 were identified. One of these, <em>ilp5</em>, which is upregulated in the CNS, was identified as a non-cell autonomous effect of loss of miR-8 in the fat body. Together this work highlights the importance of using multiple, complementary techniques to study the function of non-coding RNAs <em>in vivo</em>. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T05:59:16Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:eb9df7fd-eecb-4739-8906-ca1e3b91df7d |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T05:59:16Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:eb9df7fd-eecb-4739-8906-ca1e3b91df7d2022-03-27T11:11:02ZInvestigating the in vivo functions of non-coding RNAs in Drosophila melanogasterThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:eb9df7fd-eecb-4739-8906-ca1e3b91df7dGeneticsEnglishORA Deposit2015Schwarz, JPonting, CBassett, ALiu, JThe number of annotated non-protein coding genes has increased dramatically in recent years, but the functions of very few are well understood. In this thesis, I study the functions of two classes of non-coding RNA in <em>Drosophila melanogaster</em>. Firstly, through characterisation of six putative long non-coding RNA loci containing transposon insertions, I identified a long non-coding RNA, <em>lnc703</em>, suitable for in depth characterisation. Using a GAL4/UAS fluorescent reporter I found <em>lnc703</em> to be expressed in the larval fat body and confirmed this using qRT-PCR. Transcriptome profiling identified ribosomal genes as upregulated in two independent <em>lnc703</em> mutant strains. Additionally, I have identified decreased lifespan in some <em>lnc703<sup>gal4</sup></em> strains and it will be interesting to determine whether there is a relationship between increased ribosomal protein gene expression and reduced lifespan. I also used transcriptome profiling of the musculature and CNS of miR-8 null larvae to determine tissue specific targets of miR-8. Many indirect effects of miR-8 were detected but using MRE prediction algorithms a number of potentially direct targets of miR-8 were identified. One of these, <em>ilp5</em>, which is upregulated in the CNS, was identified as a non-cell autonomous effect of loss of miR-8 in the fat body. Together this work highlights the importance of using multiple, complementary techniques to study the function of non-coding RNAs <em>in vivo</em>. |
| spellingShingle | Genetics Schwarz, J Investigating the in vivo functions of non-coding RNAs in Drosophila melanogaster |
| title | Investigating the in vivo functions of non-coding RNAs in Drosophila melanogaster |
| title_full | Investigating the in vivo functions of non-coding RNAs in Drosophila melanogaster |
| title_fullStr | Investigating the in vivo functions of non-coding RNAs in Drosophila melanogaster |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating the in vivo functions of non-coding RNAs in Drosophila melanogaster |
| title_short | Investigating the in vivo functions of non-coding RNAs in Drosophila melanogaster |
| title_sort | investigating the in vivo functions of non coding rnas in drosophila melanogaster |
| topic | Genetics |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT schwarzj investigatingtheinvivofunctionsofnoncodingrnasindrosophilamelanogaster |