Large-scale imaginal disc sorting: A protocol for “omics”-approaches

Imaginal discs, especially the wing imaginal disc, are powerful model systems to study organ development. The traditional methods to analyze wing imaginal discs depend on the laborious and time-consuming dissection of larvae. “Omics”-based approaches, such as RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, proteomics and lipidomics, offer new opportunities for the systems-level investigation of organ development. However, it is impractical to manually isolate the required starting material. This is even more problematic when experiments strive for enhanced temporal and spatial resolution. The mass isolation workflow discussed in this review, solves this problem. The semi-automated sorting of 1000 wing imaginal discs in less than 3 h forms the basis of a workflow that can be connected to biochemical analyses of organ patterning and growth. In addition to the mass isolation workflow we briefly describe key “omics” technologies and their applications. The combination of mass isolation and “omics”-approaches ensures that the wing imaginal disc will continue to be a key model organ for studying developmental processes, both on the genetic, but increasingly also on the biochemical level.