Proven roles for hemocytes (blood cells) have expanded beyond the control of infections in Drosophila. Despite this, the critical role of hemocytes in post-embryonic development has long thought to be limited to control of microorganisms during metamorphosis. This has previously been shown by rescue of adult development in hemocyte-ablation models under germ-free conditions. Here we show that hemocytes have a critical role in post-embryonic development beyond their ability to control the microbiota. Using a newly generated, strong hemocyte-specific driver line for the GAL4/UAS system, we show that specific ablation of hemocytes is early pupal lethal, even under axenic conditions. Genetic rescue experiments prove that this is a hemocyte-specific phenomena. RNA-seq data suggests that dysregulation of the midgut is a prominent consequence of hemocyte ablation in larval stages, resulting in reduced gut lengths. Dissection suggests that multiple processes may be affected during metamorphosis. We believe this novel role for hemocytes during metamorphosis is a major finding for the field.
Hemocytes are critical for Drosophila melanogaster post-embryonic development, independent of control of the microbiota
These authors contributed equally to the work
These authors contributed equally
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- Funder(s): Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
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H. N. Stephenson, R. Streeck, F. Grüblinger, C. Goosmann, A. Herzig; Hemocytes are critical for Drosophila melanogaster post-embryonic development, independent of control of the microbiota. Development 2022; dev.200286. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.200286
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