UAS-p38c construct: A full-length cDNA of p38c was amplified from total cDNA of OregonR flies and cloned into the pDONR207 Gateway vector (Invitrogen) and subsequently sub-cloned in the pTW (Drosophila Genomics Resource Center plasmid) transgenesis vector and used to generate transgenic flies. A fly line carrying the transgene on the third chromosome was established and used as UAS-p38c.
P[p38c] rescue construct: To generate a rescue transgene of p38c, we amplified by PCR a fragment comprising the coding region of p38c with the 3′UTR and 300 bp of the upstream sequence (corresponding to the sequence between p38c and p38a,). The amplicon was cloned into pCasper4 plasmid using the restriction sites Not1 and Xho1, and used for generating transgenic flies according to standard procedures. Fly line carrying the transgene on the second chromosome, and was introgressed into the p38c7B1 mutant.