Daily rhythms of physiology, metabolism, and behavior are orchestrated by a central circadian clock. In mice, this clock is coordinated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which consists of 20,000 neurons, making it challenging to characterize individual neurons. In Drosophila, the clock is controlled by only 150 clock neurons that distribute across the fly’s brain. Here, we describe a comprehensive set of genetic drivers to facilitate individual characterization of Drosophila clock neurons. We screened GAL4 lines that were obtained from Drosophila stock centers and identified 63 lines that exhibit expression in subsets of central clock neurons. Furthermore, we generated split-GAL4 lines that exhibit specific expression in subsets of clock neurons such as the 2 DN2 neurons and the 6 LPN neurons. Together with existing driver lines, these newly identified ones are versatile tools that will facilitate a better understanding of the Drosophila central circadian clock.

生理，代谢和行为的日常节律由中央昼夜节律时钟编排。在小鼠中，该时钟由视交叉上神经核协调，该视神经上核由20,000个神经元组成，因此难以表征单个神经元。在果蝇中，仅由分布在果蝇大脑中的150个时钟神经元控制时钟。在这里，我们描述了一套全面的遗传驱动程序，以促进果蝇时钟神经元的个体表征。我们筛选了从果蝇获得的GAL4品系中心，确定了63条在中枢时钟神经元子集中显示表达的品系。此外，我们生成了在时钟神经元子集（例如2个DN2神经元和6个LPN神经元）中表现出特定表达的split-GAL4细胞系。与现有的驱动程序线一起使用，这些新近确定的驱动程序线是多功能工具，将有助于更好地了解果蝇中央生物钟。