SRA

Single-cell technologies have ushered in a new era for Drosophila research, allowing researchers to obtain transcriptomes for all stable cell types and dynamic cell states. Here we present the first release of the adult Fly Cell Atlas (FCA), which includes 580k cells from 15 individually dissected sexed tissues, as well as from the entire head and body. We annotated more than 250 distinct cell types across all tissues. Few cell types were uniquely detected in the entire head and body samples, suggesting high cell-type saturation. We provide an in-depth analysis of gene signatures and transcription factor combinations, as well as sexual dimorphism, across the whole animal. Finally, we studied cell type lineages that are shared between tissues, such as blood cells and muscle cells, allowing the retrieval of rare cell types and tissue- specific subtypes. This atlas provides a valuable resource for the entire Drosophila community as a reference to study genetic perturbations and disease models at single-cell resolution.