The international exchange of Drosophila melanogaster strains

Abstract

Drosophila melanogaster has been a model organism for experimental research for more than a century, and the knowledge and associated genetic technologies accumulated around this species make it extremely important to contemporary biomedical research. A large international community of highly collaborative scientists investigate a remarkable diversity of biological problems using genetically characterised strains of Drosophila, and frequently exchange these strains across borders. Despite its importance to the study of fundamental biological processes and human disease-related cellular mechanisms, and the fact that it presents minimal health, agricultural or environmental risks, Drosophila can be difficult to import. The authors argue that streamlined regulations and practices would benefit biomedical research by lowering costs and increasing efficiencies.

Boosting life sciences research in Brazil: building a case for a local Drosophila stock center

“…In summary, if one thinks of an experiment to examine gene, RNA and/or protein/enzyme functions in a particular cell type, tissue and/or developmental stage, it can be done efficiently and with limited financial resources using Drosophila . Its use as a model organism can also complement the research in the much more expensive mammalian models, where it is often impossible/particularly difficult to generate results with significance for whole-body physiology and metabolism, like it is the case for work using human cell lines in culture ( Prokop, 2016 ; Cook and Parks, 2022 ). Importantly, 75-85% of genes associated with human diseases have an orthologue in Drosophila , and although the evolutionary lines that gave rise to insects and mammals split 500-600 million years ago, most genes retain a remarkable similarity and have conserved functions ( Ugur et al, 2016 ; Baldridge et al, 2021 ; Cook and Parks, 2022 ).…”

“…Its use as a model organism can also complement the research in the much more expensive mammalian models, where it is often impossible/particularly difficult to generate results with significance for whole-body physiology and metabolism, like it is the case for work using human cell lines in culture ( Prokop, 2016 ; Cook and Parks, 2022 ). Importantly, 75-85% of genes associated with human diseases have an orthologue in Drosophila , and although the evolutionary lines that gave rise to insects and mammals split 500-600 million years ago, most genes retain a remarkable similarity and have conserved functions ( Ugur et al, 2016 ; Baldridge et al, 2021 ; Cook and Parks, 2022 ). Several human diseases have been modeled in Drosophila , including autism spectrum disorder ( Bellosta and Soldano, 2019 ), Alzheimer’s ( Tsuda and Lim, 2018 ; Tue et al, 2020 ), Parkinson’s ( Aryal and Lee, 2019 ), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( Goodman and Bonini, 2020 ; Liguori et al, 2021 ), cancer ( Chatterjee and Deng, 2019 ), diabetes ( Chatterjee and Perrimon, 2021 ), obesity ( Musselman and Kühnlein, 2018 ; Chatterjee and Perrimon, 2021 ), mitochondrial disorders ( Chen et al, 2019 ; Rodrigues et al, 2022 ) and muscular dystrophies ( Potikanond et al, 2018 ), among others.…”

“…In addition to continuing providing valuable data for evolutionary genetics, Drosophila has now become a pre-clinical and clinical organism, in which genetic and environmental conditions can be straightforwardly tested in the context of a particular disease, and the effects of drugs and their protein/enzyme targets studied with potential medical applications. To paraphrase Cook and Parks ( 2022 ), “...these make Drosophila indispensable to contemporary biomedical research”. The absolute majority of the abovementioned models, if not all, are available to any researcher through the Drosophila stock centers in North America, Europe and/or Asia.…”

“…The historical expansion of Drosophila research and stock centers Drosophila melanogaster (Insecta: Diptera) is undoubtedly one of the most useful model organisms in biology. It is usually referred to simply as fly, fruitfly or Drosophila (the same terms we will use throughout this document), although the genus Drosophila has thousands of species and not all feed on fruits; only D. suzukii poses as a real threat to fruticulture as a pest (Cook and Parks, 2022). From helping to establish basic principles of genetics more than 100 years ago (Morgan, 1910), Drosophila then became the pupil of evolutionary biology, with a special participation of Theodosius Dobzhansky in establishing a strong research program on evolutionary population genetics in the USA and in Brazil (Glick, 2008).…”