In vivo detection of lamellocytes in Drosophila melanogaster

Drosophila has recently become a powerful model organism for studies of innate immunity. The cellular elements of innate immunity in Drosophila, the hemocytes, have been characterized by morphological criteria, molecular markers, and cell-type-specific immunological markers. Here we suggest that an MiET1 GFP-reporter element insertion in the untranslated region of a gene (l1-atilla) - expressed in a subset of hemocytes, the lamellocytes - allows in vivo investigations of lamellocyte differentiation and facilitates genetic screens.