Figure 1.

Hemolymph protein marker ANF-RFP and AgNO₃ levels in nephrocytes expressing Coq-RNAi transgenes. (A) Fluorescence micrographs showing nephrocytes of adult flies 1-day postemergence. ANF-RFP fluorescence (red) is shown in the left panels. Right panels show RFP (red) merged with GFP (green, mostly nuclear). A GFP transgene is expressed under the control of a Hand gene enhancer (Hand-GFP) to confirm pericardial nephrocyte cell identity.²³ All flies are transgenic for Hand-GFP. Control flies carry the Dot-Gal4 driver but no RNAi construct. Coq-IR flies carry Dot-Gal4 driving an RNAi transgene to silence expression of Coq2, Coq6, or Coq8 genes. (B) Quantification of nephrocyte RFP fluorescence, expressed relative to control value. For each genotype, 30 nephrocytes (six nephrocytes from each of five flies) were examined (*P<0.05). (C) Photomicrographs showing nephrocytes of third instar larvae reared on standard fly food supplemented with AgNO₃. Control flies carry the Dot-Gal4 driver but no RNAi construct. Coq-IR flies carry Dot-Gal4 driving an RNAi transgene to silence expression of the indicated Coq gene. Scale bar, 20 microns. (D) Quantification of AgNO₃, expressed relative to control value. For each genotype, 30 nephrocytes (six nephrocytes from each of five larvae) were examined (*P<0.05).