Precise genetic manipulation of specific cell types or tissues to pinpoint gene function requirement is a critical step in studies aimed at unraveling the intricacies of organismal physiology. Drosophila researchers heavily rely on the UAS/Gal4/Gal80 system for tissue-specific manipulations; however, it is often unclear whether the reported Gal4 expression patterns are indeed specific to the tissue of interest such that experimental results are not confounded by secondary sites of Gal4 expression. Here, we surveyed the expression patterns of commonly used Gal4 drivers in adult Drosophila female tissues under optimal conditions and found that multiple drivers have unreported secondary sites of expression beyond their published cell type/tissue expression pattern. These results underscore the importance of thoroughly characterizing Gal4 tools as part of a rigorous experimental design that avoids potential misinterpretation of results as we strive for understanding how the function of a specific gene/pathway in one tissue contributes to whole-body physiology.

对特定细胞类型或组织进行精确的基因操作以精确定位基因功能的要求，是旨在揭示生物生理复杂性的研究中的关键步骤。果蝇研究人员严重依赖UAS / Gal4 / Gal80系统进行组织特异性操作。然而，通常不清楚所报道的Gal4表达模式是否确实对目标组织具有特异性，从而使得实验结果不会被Gal4表达的二级位点所混淆。在这里，我们调查了成人果蝇中常用的Gal4驱动程序的表达模式女性组织处于最佳条件下，发现多个驱动程序在其公开的细胞类型/组织表达模式之外，还有未报告的次级表达位点。这些结果强调了在严格的实验设计中彻底表征Gal4工具的重要性，该设计避免了对结果的潜在误解，因为我们努力了解一种组织中特定基因/途径的功能如何促进全身生理。