TY - JOUR TI - An auxin-inducible, GAL4-compatible, gene expression system for Drosophila AU - McClure, Colin D AU - Hassan, Amira AU - Aughey, Gabriel N AU - Butt, Khushbakht AU - Estacio-Gómez, Alicia AU - Duggal, Aneisha AU - Ying Sia, Chee AU - Barber, Annika F AU - Southall, Tony D A2 - VijayRaghavan, K VL - 11 PY - 2022 DA - 2022/04/01 SP - e67598 C1 - eLife 2022;11:e67598 DO - 10.7554/eLife.67598 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.67598 AB - The ability to control transgene expression, both spatially and temporally, is essential for studying model organisms. In Drosophila, spatial control is primarily provided by the GAL4/UAS system, whilst temporal control relies on a temperature-sensitive GAL80 (which inhibits GAL4) and drug-inducible systems. However, these are not ideal. Shifting temperature can impact on many physiological and behavioural traits, and the current drug-inducible systems are either leaky, toxic, incompatible with existing GAL4-driver lines, or do not generate effective levels of expression. Here, we describe the auxin-inducible gene expression system (AGES). AGES relies on the auxin-dependent degradation of a ubiquitously expressed GAL80, and therefore, is compatible with existing GAL4-driver lines. Water-soluble auxin is added to fly food at a low, non-lethal, concentration, which induces expression comparable to uninhibited GAL4 expression. The system works in both larvae and adults, providing a stringent, non-lethal, cost-effective, and convenient method for temporally controlling GAL4 activity in Drosophila. KW - auxin KW - GAL4/UAS KW - inducible KW - temporal KW - transgene KW - gene expression JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -