Taste, movement, and death: varying effects of new prospero mutants during Drosophila development
Résumé
The PGal4 transposon inserted upstream of the pan-neural gene prospero (pros) causes several neural and behavioral defects in the Voila(1) strain. The precise excision of the transposon simultaneously rescued all these defects whereas its unprecise excision created new pros(V) alleles, including the null allele pros(V17). Here, we describe the relationship between the genetic structure of pros locus, larval locomotion, and larval gustatory response. These two behaviors showed varying degrees of variation depending upon the pros allele. We also found a good relation between behavioral alteration, the level of Pros protein in the embryo, and the degree of disorganization in the larval neuromuscular junction. These data suggest that the complete development of the nervous system requires a full complement of Pros, and that a gradual decrease in the levels of this protein can proportionally alter the development and the function of the nervous system.
Mots clés
Alleles
Animals
Blotting
Southern
DNA Transposable Elements
Death
Drosophila Proteins
Drosophila melanogaster/embryology/genetics/growth & development
Embryo
Nonmammalian
Ganglia
Invertebrate/chemistry
Gene Expression Regulation
Developmental/physiology
Genes
Insect
Lethal
Genomics/methods
Genotype
Immunohistochemistry
Larva/genetics/*growth & development
Movement/*physiology
Mutation
Nerve Tissue Proteins/*genetics/metabolism
Neuromuscular Junction/genetics/growth & development/metabolism
Nuclear Proteins/*genetics/metabolism
Reaction Time
Taste/*genetics
Transcription Factors