Drosophila glial architecture and development: analysis using a collection of new cell-specific markers

Monoclonal antibodies and enhancer trap insertions that mark subsets of neurons have been valuable tools in the study of Drosophila neuronal development. Similarly, glial specific cell markers could prove to be valuable in investigating the development and function of glia. Here we characterize the architecture and development of distinct sets of Drosophila embryonic glia, using a reporter gene driven by fushi tarazu homeodomain binding sites. Reporter expresssion in glia is dependent on the orientation and spacing of the homeodomain binding sites, revealing potential differences in glial determination. These studies suggest that the use of transcription factor binding sites to drive reporter gene expression may prove to be a generally useful means of generating additional cell type-specific markers.