Screening of genes vital for the maintenance of apicobasal polarity with Scribble using Drosophila melanogaster’s wing imaginal discs

Abstract

Apicobasal polarity (ABP) is a type of cell polarity unique to epithelial cells and is maintained by three complexes, including the Scribble (Scrib) complex. Recent studies have revealed that the formation of neoplasia due to local loss of Scrib is affected by the dosage of Scrib within the tissue. This provides a hypothesis that the loss of Scrib-derived neoplasia formation is influenced by additional genes that exhibit synergy with scrib. To identify the vital genes, a screening was performed using the deficiency lines of the right arm of the third chromosome in Drosophila to determine genomic regions containing potential candidate genes. The screening protocol used conditional knockdown of scrib using the RNAi mechanism. This study demonstrates the robustness and suitability of the screening protocol for conducting a finer screening of candidate genes throughout the entire Drosophila genome.