Fig. 3

circbabo(5,6,7,8S) depletion causes photoreceptor degeneration. A–F Flies carrying the eye-specific GMR-Gal4 driver were crossed to UAS-shcircbabo(5,6,7,8S)-A or control UAS-shGFP flies together with the empty vector or the UAS-circbabo(5,6,7,8S) transgene. The eyes of 3-day (A–C) or 30-day old (D–F) flies with the indicated genotypes were analyzed by TEM. Ommatidia were slightly affected at day 3 when circbabo(5,6,7,8S) was knocked down but showed moderate degeneration at day 30. The defects were rescued by introducing the UAS-circbabo(5,6,7,8S) transgene. The red arrows indicate the lipid droplet structure that was detected in the 3-day-old GMR > shcircbabo(5,6,7,8S)-A flies. Scale bar, 5 μm. A′–C′ Enlarged views of the boxed regions of A–C. Scale bar, 2.5 μm. G, H Quantification of the number of intact photoreceptors in each ommatidium from flies with the indicated genotypes of A–F. Different number of (A = 13, B = 14, C = 13, D = 19, E = 32, F = 15) ommatidia were counted. I, I’ Quantification of the number of LDs in each ommatidium from flies with the indicated genotypes. J Flies carrying the pan neuronal-specific nSyb-Gal4 driver were crossed to UAS-shcircbabo(5,6,7,8S)-A or control UAS-shGFP flies together with the empty vector or UAS-circbabo(5,6,7,8S) overexpression transgenes. The lifespan of flies of indicated genotypes is shown (n represents number of groups for each genotype, 16–20 flies for each group. shGFP, vector = 10; shcircbabo(5,6,7,8S)-A, vector = 10; circbabo(5,6,7,8S), shGFP = 8; shcircbabo(5,6,7,8S), circbabo(5,6,7,8S) = 8). K Levels of circbabo(5,6,7,8S) in flies of the indicated genotypes were measured (one-way ANOVA with Turkey post hoc test, n = 3, * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001)