CDTa expression in the Gut Reduces Drosophila Pupal and Adult Size, Adult Body Weight, Viability, and Lifespan
(A) Comparative size measurements of NP1GAL4/+ (control) and CDTa-expressing pupae driven by enterocyte-specific NP1GAL4 (>CDTa), grown at room temperature (RT) (p < 0.0001). Data are represented as mean ± SD, here and in subsequent figures.
(B) Images of NP1/+ (control), NP1GAL4>CDTa (midgut > CDTa), and CDTa-expressing adult female flies under the control of a Hindgut-GAL4 driver (hindgut > CDTa) raised at RT. All images were taken at the same magnification.
(C) Comparative body weight measurements of male and female NP1/+ (control) and NP1GAL4>CDTa (>CDTa) flies, raised at RT (males: p < 0.0001, females: p < 0.0001). Flies were weighed in groups of 10–15. Average weight/fly is plotted for each group.
(D) Comparative rate of emerging adult flies expressing CDTa driven by NP1GAL4 (>CDTa) versus control individuals NP1/+ (>+, flies inheriting the TM6 balancer chromosome instead of the UAS-CDTa transgene) at RT (p < 0.0001).
(E) Comparative survival curves between tubGAL80ts NP1/+ (control) and tubGAL80ts NP1>CDTa (>CDTa) male flies at 29°C (the permissive temperature that allows CDTa expression in tubGAL80ts NP1>CDTa flies) (log rank [Mantel-Cox] test = p < 0.0001). Three vials of each genotype containing 15 flies each were monitored daily for surviving flies. Surviving flies were transferred to clean vials every 3 days. In (A, C, and D) Data are represented as mean ± SD. p-values were obtained from unpaired T-tests.