Vienna Drosophila Resource Center

Drosophila lines for researchers worldwide

The Vienna Drosophila Resource Center (VDRC) is a professionally organized bioresource center of international significance that aims to promote scientific discoveries in Drosophila melanogaster. Our primary aim is to maintain unique transgenic Drosophila stocks and DNA resources and to distribute them both locally and worldwide. We also acquire, create, and develop new resources, according to emerging new technologies and the needs of the local and international Drosophila research community.

SERVICES

Fly stock distribution

The VDRC is the main Drosophila melanogaster stock center in Europe and our main role is to maintain and distribute unique transgenic fly lines to researchers at the Vienna BioCenter and worldwide. We currently maintain more than 30,000 independent lines, nearly all in duplicate, and have successfully shipped over 1.3 million lines to over 2.500 labs internationally.

We have the largest world's collection of Drosophila RNAi lines, enabling genome-wide screens. Other collections include enhancer-GAL4 driver lines, tagged constructs, mutant alleles, and reporters.

We can ship to any Drosophila researcher who has obtained a VDRC log-in.
For more information and stock ordering go to our website.

Plasmid DNA distribution

In addition to maintaining transgenic fly stocks, the VDRC is a repository for plasmid DNAs which are of use in Drosophila melanogaster research. We can ship plasmids to any Drosophila researcher who has obtained a VDRC log-in.

We currently have 13,840 DNA constructs used to generate the GD RNAi transgenic fly collection. These are long hairpin constructs for a specific gene inserted in the pMF3 vector (see GD library cloning strategy).

In addition, we have a small collection of plasmids, useful for Drosophila research, which have been deposited by other research groups.

Stock keeping

The VDRC is open to donations of highly used Drosophila stocks for integration into its community stock center collection for distribution to all fly researchers. In addition, we offer a private stock keeping service where we maintain and distribute your personal fly stock/plasmid collections on your behalf. See here for information about the VDRC Stock Keeping Policy.

If you wish to donate resources to the VDRC or use our private stock keeping service, please contact us to discuss the options as early as possible: office@vdrc.at.

Fly food

The VDRC Fly Food Kitchen (FFK) provides fly groups in the Vienna region with media required for maintaining live Drosophila stocks. The kitchen has the capacity to produce volumes of up to 240 liters of fly media per day, with typically 1,200,000 small tubes and 350,000 bottles produced per year.

We produce different media types in tubes and bottles, with various plugging options.

For further information and special requests contact Franziska Stransky, Head of the Fly Food Kitchen, flyfood.office(at)vbcf.ac.at or tel: +43 664 808 473 809. Read more.

 

 

RESOURCES

Drosophila melanogaster wild type

The VDRC has the largest collection of Drosophila RNAi lines worldwide. The genome-wide resource enables large-scale genetic screens and loss-of-function experiments in essentially any tissue or cell at any stage in the life of the organism.

When crossed with a GAL4 'driver' line, the UAS-RNAi stock induces expression of a specific hairpin structure, which silences expression of the target gene via RNA interference (RNAi).

Our RNAi resource of over 23,000 stocks (91% genome coverage) includes transgenic UAS-RNAi stocks with long hairpins (GD and KK libraries) and short hairpin microRNAs (shRNA library).

See here for further details about the RNAi libraries.

GAL4 expression in Drosophila brains

GAL4 lines are one part of the binary GAL4-UAS system (Brand and Perrimon, 1993). Our Vienna Tiles (VT) enhancer Gal4 lines are typically used in Drosophila experiments as ‘drivers’ to restrict the expression of a UAS line (e.g., UAS-RNAi) to a specific subset of cells or developmental time-point.

Each line contains a short fragment of genomic DNA controlling GAL4 expression and the constructs are integrated at a single defined genomic position (attP2). Precise expression patterns of reporters driven by these lines have been extensively documented and annotated in the embryo and adult brain.

See further information about VT GAL4 lines.

Plasmids

In addition to maintaining and distributing transgenic fly lines, the VDRC also acts as a repository for plasmids that are useful for Drosophila research.

Currently we have 13,840 DNA constructs used to generate the GD RNAi transgenic fly collection (see DNA construct list). These are long hairpin constructs for a specific gene inserted in the pMF3 vector (see GD library cloning strategy).

In addition, we have a small collection of plasmids useful for Drosophila research that have been deposited by research groups outside of the VDRC and we aim to add to this collection. See Other Resources.

Examples of fTRG images

The Tagged FlyFos TransgeneOme (fTRG) library consists of transgenic flies for analysis of gene function and protein localization. Each line has been engineered to tag a specific protein with a multi-epitope tag at its C-terminus, for use in a variety of downstream applications, including live imaging, subcellular localization, and interaction proteomics of selected gene products at all stages of Drosophila development.

Full details about creation of the fTRG lines can be found in the following publication: 

Sarov et al., A genome-wide resource for the analysis of protein localisation in Drosophila. Elife. 2016, 5:e12068.

For further information about the fTRG lines, see here.

CRISPR mutagenesis in Drosophila wing

The Heidelberg CFD CRISPR (HD_CFD) Library consists of transgenic flies is a large-scale collection of transgenic flies for CRISPR-mediated genome engineering in Drosophila to generate loss-of-function mutations in essential or non-essential genes in a germline restricted, ubiquitous or tissue specific fashion.

The library has been generated by the laboratory of Michael Boutros at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Heidelberg University and generously donated to the VDRC for distribution to the Drosophila research community.

Full details about creation and use of the HD_CFD lines can be found in the following publication:

Port el al., A large-scale resource for tissue-specific CRISPR mutagenesis in Drosophila,  Elife. 2020, 9:e53865.

For further information about the HD_CFD lines, see here.

OSC cells grown in media containing Fly Extract

“Fly Extract” from OregonR adults is required as an additive to culture many insect cell lines (e.g. Drosophila OSS, OSC, fGS/OSS, CME Cl.8+, and other lines derived from ovaries or imaginal discs).

The VDRC Fly Extract is produced using a protocol developed by the lab of Julius Brennecke (IMBA, Vienna), which has been successfully growing OSC cells using this extract since 2010 (Sienski et al., Cell 2012).

Fly storage room

In addition to maintaining and distributing transgenic fly stocks and plasmids owned by the VDRC, we also maintain Drosophila resources owned by other organizations and distribute them to the scientific community on behalf of the depositor ('Provider Scientist') via the regular VDRC webshop. For more information see About Other Resources.

The resources can be either transgenic flies or plasmid DNA and currently include mutant alleles, tagged constructs, RNAi lines, reporters, and CRISPR/Cas9 plasmids.

Further fly stocks/plasmids will be added to the 'Other Resources' section if the 'Provider Scientist' wishes to make them available to researchers with a VDRC login.

USER INFORMATION

In general, VDRC terms and conditions apply. It is assumed that users who order services have read and understood this policy as well as the VBCF General Cooperation Conditions.

Please note:

  • Fly food must be ordered online via MyVBCF.
  • To order fly stocks, log into the VDRC website using your username & password. If you do not have a username yet, please register first. See here for details.
  • All fly orders will be shipped by courier, but researchers in the Vienna area may come and collect their order in person.
  • If you wish to discuss donating stocks to the VDRC, or using the Private Stock Keeping Service, please contact office@vdrc.at

We require acknowledgement of facility use in publications. 
A simple statement is sufficient and can be placed in the Materials and Methods section or in the Acknowledgments section, depending on the journal format.

Suggested format:
Transgenic fly stocks and/or plasmids were obtained from the Vienna Drosophila Resource Center (VDRC) at Vienna BioCenter Core Facilities (VBCF), member of the Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Austria.

Citing RNAi lines:

VIENNA DROSOPHILA RESOURCE CENTER TEAM

SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS

A neural circuit for wind-guided olfactory navigation.Matheson AMM, Lanz AJ, Medina AM, Licata AM, Currier TA, Syed MH, Nagel KI. Nat Commun. 2022 13(1):4613.

Decoding gene regulation in the fly brain.Janssens J, Aibar S, Taskiran II, Ismail JN, Gomez AE, Aughey G, Spanier KI, De Rop FV, González-Blas CB, Dionne M, Grimes K, Quan XJ, Papasokrati D, Hulselmans G, Makhzami S, De Waegeneer M, Christiaens V, Southall T, Aerts S. Nature. 2022 601(7894):630-636.

Hippo signaling instructs ectopic but not normal organ growth.Kowalczyk W, Romanelli L, Atkins M, Hillen H, Bravo González-Blas C, Jacobs J, Xie J, Soheily S, Verboven E, Moya IM, Verhulst S, de Waegeneer M, Sansores-Garcia L, van Huffel L, Johnson RL, van Grunsven LA, Aerts S, Halder G. Science. 2022 378(6621):eabg3679

 

HERE you can browse the document containing all remaining 446 acknowledgements in 2022.

Genome-wide phenotypic RNAi screen in the Drosophila wing: global parameters. López-Varea A, Ostalé CM, Vega-Cuesta P, Ruiz-Gómez A, Organista MF, Martín M, Hevia CF, Molnar C, de Celis J, Culi J, Esteban N, de Celis JF. G3 (Bethesda). 2021 11(12):jkab351

A large-scale transgenic RNAi screen identifies transcription factors that modulate myofiber size in Drosophila. Graca FA, Sheffield N, Puppa M, Finkelstein D, Hunt LC, Demontis F. PLoS Genet. 2021 17(11):e1009926.

 

HERE you can browse the document containing all acknowledgements in 2021.

Genome-Wide Screen for Context-Dependent Tumor Suppressors Identified Using in Vivo Models for Neoplasia in Drosophila.Groth C, Vaid P, Khatpe A, Prashali N, Ahiya A, Andrejeva D, Chakladar M, Nagarkar S, Paul R, Kelkar D, Eichenlaub T, Herranz H, Sridhar TS, Cohen SM, Shashidhara LS. G3 (Bethesda). 2020 Sep 2;10(9):2999-3008.

Analysis of genes within the schizophrenia-linked 22q11.2 deletion identifies interaction of night owl/LZTR1 and NF1 in GABAergic sleep control.Maurer GW, Malita A, Nagy S, Koyama T, Werge TM, Halberg KA, Texada MJ, Rewitz K. PLoS Genet. 2020 Apr 27;16(4):e1008727.

HERE you can browse the document containing all remaining 491 acknowledgements in 2020.

Sensory neuron lineage mapping and manipulation in the Drosophila olfactory system.
Chai PC, Cruchet S, Wigger L, Benton R. Nat Commun. 2019 Feb 7;10(1):643.

Chaperonin TRiC/CCT supports mitotic exit and entry into endocycle in Drosophila.
Ohhara Y, Nakamura A, Kato Y, Yamakawa-Kobayashi K. PLoS Genet. 2019 Apr 29;15(4):e1008121.

Chronic dysfunction of Stromal interaction molecule by pulsed RNAi induction in fat tissue impairs organismal energy homeostasis in Drosophila.
Xu Y, Borcherding AF, Heier C, Tian G, Roeder T, Kühnlein RP. Sci Rep. 2019 May 6;9(1):6989.

HERE you can browse the document containing all 367 acknowledgements in 2019.

 

Color Processing in the Early Visual System of Drosophila
Schnaitmann C, Haikala V, Abraham E, Oberhauser V, Thestrup T, Griesbeck O, Reiff DF. Cell. 2018 Jan 11;172(1-2).

Dendritic Integration of Sensory Evidence in Perceptual Decision-Making
Groschner LN, Chan Wah Hak L, Bogacz R, DasGupta S, Miesenböck G. Cell. 2018 May 3;173(4).

HERE you can browse the document containing all acknowledgements in 2018.

 

Genetic screen in Drosophila muscle identifies autophagy-mediated T-tubule remodeling and a Rab2 role in autophay. Fujita N, Huang W, Lin TH, Groulx JF, Jean S, Nguyen J, Kuchitsu Y, KoyamaHonda I, Mizushima N, Fkuda M, Kiger AA. Elife. 2017 Jan 7;6.

RNAi-Mediated Reverse Genetic Screen Identified Drosophila Chaperones Regulating Eye and Neuromuscular Junction Morphology. Raut S, Mallik B, Parichha A, Amrutha V, Sahi C, Kumar V. G3 (Bethesda). 2017 Jul 5;7(7):2023-2038.

HERE you can browse the document containing all remaining 376 acknowledgements in 2017.

 

Regulation of ribosome biogenesis and protein synthesis controls germline stemcell differentiation. Sanchez CG, Teixeira FK, Czech B, Preall JB, Zamparini AL, Seifert JR, Malone CD, Hannon GJ, Lehmann R. Cell Stem Cell. 2016 Feb 4;18(2):276-90.

A Drosophila genome-wide screen identifies regulators of steroid hormone production and developmental timing. Danielsen ET, Moeller ME, Yamanaka N, Ou Q, Laursen JM, Soenderholm C, Zhuo R, Phelps B, Tang K, Zeng J, Kondo S, Nielsen CH, Harvald EB, Faergeman NJ, Haley MJ, O'Connor KA, King-Jones K, O'Connor MB, Rewitz KF. Dev Cell. 2016 Jun 20;37(6):558-70.

HERE you can browse the document containing all remaining 315 acknowledgements in 2016.

 

Genome-wide RNAi screen identifies networks involved in intestinal stem cell regulation in Drosophila. Zeng X, Han L, Singh SR, Liu H, Neumüller RA, Yan D, Hu Y, Liu Y, Liu W, Lin X, Hou SX. Cell Rep. 2015 Feb 24;10(7):1226-38.

Identification of genes that promote or inhibit olfactory memory formation in Drosophila. Walkinshaw E, Gai Y, Farkas C, Richter D, Nicholas E, Keleman K, Davis RL. Genetics. 2015 Apr;199(4):1173-82.

HERE you can browse the document containing all remaining acknowledgements in 2015.

 

Genome-scale functional characterization of Drosophila developmental enhancers in vivo.  Kvon EZ, Kazmar T, Stampfel G, Yáñez-Cuna JO, Pagani M, Schernhuber K, Dickson BJ, Stark A. Nature. 2014 Aug 7;512(7512):91-5

Abdominal-B neurons control Drosophila virgin female receptivity. Bussell JJ, Yapici N, Zhang SX, Dickson BJ, Vosshall LB. Curr Biol. 2014 Jul 21;24(14):1584-95

HERE you can browse the document containing all remaining acknowledgements in 2014.

 

A transcriptome-wide RNAi screen in the Drosophila ovary reveals factors of the germline piRNA pathway.
Czech B, Preall JB, McGinn J, Hannon GJ. Mol Cell. 2013 Jun 6;50(5):749-61.

The genetic makeup of the Drosophila piRNA pathway. Handler D, Meixner K, Pizka M, Lauss K, Schmied C, Gruber FS, Brennecke. J.Mol Cell. 2013 Jun 6;50(5):762-77.

HERE you can browse the document containing all remaining acknowledgements in 2013.