Abstract
Bacteriophage integrase-directed insertion of transgenic constructs into specific genomic loci has been widely used by Drosophila community. A second chromosome-located attP40 landing site gains popularity because of its high inducible expression levels of transgenes. Here, unexpectedly, we found that homozygous attP40 chromosome leads to defects in the glomerular organization of Drosophila olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). This effect is not likely to be caused by the loss of function of Msp300, where attP40 docking site is inserted. Moreover, attP40 site seems to genetically interact with a second chromosome GAL4 driver, which also results in a similar ORN axon terminal defect. Though it remains elusive so far whether the ORN phenotype is caused by the neighboring genes around Msp300 locus in the presence of attP40-based insertions or a second unknown mutation in the attP40 background, our finding raises the critical issue with using this popular transgenic landing site. Rigorous controls are needed in the relevant experiments to rule out the attP40-associated background effects.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.