Single-Cell Atlas of the Drosophila Leg Disc Identifies a Long Non-Coding RNA in Late Development

The Drosophila imaginal disc has been an excellent model for the study of developmental gene regulation. In particular, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have gained widespread attention in recent years due to their important role in gene regulation. Their specific spatiotemporal expressions further su...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of molecular sciences 2022-06, Vol.23 (12), p.6796
Main Authors: Tse, Joyce, Li, Tsz Ho, Zhang, Jizhou, Lee, Alan Chun Kit, Lee, Ivy, Qu, Zhe, Lin, Xiao, Hui, Jerome, Chan, Ting-Fung
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chromatin
Drosophila
Fluorescence in situ hybridization
Fruit flies
Gene expression
Gene regulation
Genomes
Genomics
Insects
Leg
Non-coding RNA
Proteins
RNA polymerase
Transcriptomics
Transposase
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Summary:The Drosophila imaginal disc has been an excellent model for the study of developmental gene regulation. In particular, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have gained widespread attention in recent years due to their important role in gene regulation. Their specific spatiotemporal expressions further support their role in developmental processes and diseases. In this study, we explored the role of a novel lncRNA in Drosophila leg development by dissecting and dissociating w1118 third-instar larval third leg (L3) discs into single cells and single nuclei, and performing single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) and single-cell assays for transposase-accessible chromatin (scATAC-seq). Single-cell transcriptomics analysis of the L3 discs across three developmental timepoints revealed different cell types and identified lncRNA:CR33938 as a distal specific gene with high expression in late development. This was further validated by fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH). The scATAC-seq results reproduced the single-cell transcriptomics landscape and elucidated the distal cell functions at different timepoints. Furthermore, overexpression of lncRNA:CR33938 in the S2 cell line increased the expression of leg development genes, further elucidating its potential role in development.
ISSN:1422-0067
1661-6596
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms23126796