For more than 100 years, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has been one of the most studied model organisms. Here, we present a single-cell atlas of the adult fly, Tabula Drosophilae , that includes 580,000 nuclei from 15 individually dissected sexed tissues as well as the entire head and body, annotated to >250 distinct cell types. We provide an in-depth analysis of cell type–related gene signatures and transcription factor markers, as well as sexual dimorphism, across the whole animal. Analysis of common cell types between tissues, such as blood and muscle cells, reveals rare cell types and tissue-specific subtypes. This atlas provides a valuable resource for the Drosophila community and serves as a reference to study genetic perturbations and disease models at single-cell resolution.

Doublesex proteins, part of the structurally and functionally conserved Dmrt gene family, play essential roles in sex determination throughout the animal kingdom. We targeted the insertion of GAL4 into the doublesex (dsx) locus of Drosophila melanogaster, allowing visualization and manipulation of dsx cells in various tissues. In the nervous system, significant differences between the sexes were detected in dsx neuronal numbers, axonal projections, and synaptic density. We show that dsx is required for the development of male-specific neurons that co-express fruitless (fru), a key regulator of male sexual behavior. We propose that both dsx and fru act together to form the neuronal framework necessary for male sexual behavior. Significantly, we show that disrupting dsx neuronal function has profound effects on male sexual behavior. Furthermore, we demonstrate a role for dsx neurons in pre- through to post-copulatory female reproductive behaviors.

We conclude that Crm1p interacts with the Rev NES and nuclear pore proteins during delivery of cargo to the nuclear pore complex. Our findings also agree well with current experiments on Crm1p orthologs in Schizosaccharomyces pombe and in vertebrate systems.