A Catalog of GAL4 Drivers for Labeling and Manipulating Circadian Clock Neurons in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Daily rhythms of physiology, metabolism, and behavior are orchestrated by a central circadian clock. In mice, this clock is coordinated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which consists of 20,000 neurons, making it challenging to characterize individual neurons. In Drosophila, the clock is controlled by only 150 clock neurons that distribute across the fly’s brain. Here, we describe a comprehensive set of genetic drivers to facilitate individual characterization of Drosophila clock neurons. We screened GAL4 lines that were obtained from Drosophila stock centers and identified 63 lines that exhibit expression in subsets of central clock neurons. Furthermore, we generated split-GAL4 lines that exhibit specific expression in subsets of clock neurons such as the 2 DN2 neurons and the 6 LPN neurons. Together with existing driver lines, these newly identified ones are versatile tools that will facilitate a better understanding of the Drosophila central circadian clock.