IU Bloomington is the home of three resource centers used by Drosophila researchers everywhere. Each center has a staff of scientists specializing in an important aspect of Drosophila research. Consequently, IU Bloomington has a depth of expertise in fly genetics matched by few other institutions. Researchers at IU Bloomington have ready access to these resources.
Drosophila Research Resources
The Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center at IU
The Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center (BDSC) collects, maintains, and distributes genetic stocks of Drosophila melanogaster. The BDSC, which is a direct descendent of the strain collection established by T.H. Morgan’s research group early in the last century, has been at Indiana University since 1987. Over 170,000 subcultures were distributed to laboratories around the world in 2022. The collection is supported by grant funds from NIH (OD, NINDS, NIGMS, and NICHD) and from user fees.
The BDSC’s user base includes more than 3,900 research groups in 72 countries. The collection consists of over 84,000 different genetic strains containing nearly 85,000 defined genetic elements—including mutations, chromosomal aberrations, and transposon insertions as well as tools for gene misexpression, site-specific recombination, and transgenesis. Over 2,000 publications cite the BDSC each year.
The BDSC website provides information concerning stocks, their experimental uses, ordering and account information, and postal regulations. Information about genetic components of Bloomington stocks is fully integrated into FlyBase, the primary genetic and genomics database for Drosophila workers.
Special projects
The BDSC is characterizing expression patterns of split-GAL4 hemidrivers in the intestine with results being made available on the website and published in Genetics.
Previous projects provided extensive coverage and subdivision of the Drosophila genome with chromosomal deletions and nearly complete coverage of the X chromosome with duplications.
BDSC scientists
BDSC scientists are an integral part of the Indiana University Drosophila group. IU graduate students and postdocs have ready access to the stock collection and to advice from the center’s personnel.
Drosophila Genomics Resource Center
The Drosophila Genomics Resource Center (DGRC) serves to provide the worldwide research community access to Drosophila genomics resources. The DGRC was established at Indiana University in 2003 and is supported by funding from the NIH (NCRR and NIGMS) and user fees. The DGRC collection includes approximately 200 cell lines, 325 cloning vectors, and over 1 million clones. The DGRC has approximately 7,000 registered users in 3,200 laboratories. It has distributed over 70,000 resources since it began in 2004. The DGRC website provides information regarding resources, suggested protocols, and online registration and ordering.
DGRC scientists
DGRC scientists are an integral part of the Indiana University Drosophila group. IU graduate students and postdocs have ready access to the genomics resources and to advice from the center’s staff.
FlyBase at Indiana University
FlyBase is an informatics resource that provides the scientific community with core genetic and genomic information on Drosophila melanogaster and other flies of the genus Drosophila. FlyBase’s central mission is to capture, integrate, and distill the results and conclusions of research using Drosophila as a model organism.
The FlyBase Consortium consists of three groups—at Harvard University, at Indiana University, and at the University of Cambridge (UK). The FlyBase group at IU is responsible for development and production of the public FlyBase website and for curation of images and data related to genetic stocks.
FlyBase publications
A list of publications by the FlyBase Consortium is available from the FlyBase website.
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