Interstrain variability of larval photokinesis in Drosophila melanogaster.

Larvae from seven laboratory strains and eight isofemale lines of Drosophila melanogaster differ significantly with regard to their responses to light in a photokinesis assay in which the larvae are tested en masse. Larvae from the CA-2 laboratory stock fail to disperse on assay plates, although observations of individual CA-2 larvae suggest that the larvae are repelled by light. Larvae from all of the other laboratory stocks and all of the isofemale lines (except LI2 and NC5) avoid light in the photokinesis assay. Larvae from some stocks are much more strongly repelled by light than larvae from other stocks. LI2 larvae are unresponsive to light in most replicates of the photokinesis assay, while NC5 larvae are consistently unresponsive to light. Observations of F1 heterozygotes suggest that the allele(s) that affects the vision of LI2 and NC5 larvae has net effects on the animals' behavior that are partially dominant and recessive, respectively.

Hypomorphic mutations in the larval photokinesis A (lphA) gene have stage-specific effects on visual system function in Drosophila melanogaster.

Of the many genes that are expressed in the visual system of Drosophila melanogaster adults, some affect larval vision. However, with the exception of one X-linked mutation, no genes that have larval-specific effects on visual system structure or function have previously been reported. We describe the isolation and characterization of two mutant alleles that define the larval photokinesis A (lphA) gene, one allele of which is associated with a P-element insertion at cytogenetic locus 8E1-10. Larvae that express lphA mutations are, like normal animals, negatively photokinetic, but they are less responsive to white light than lphA + controls. Larvae that are heterozygous in trans for a mutant lphA allele and a deficiency that uncovers the lphA locus are blind, which indicates that the mutant allele is hypomorphic. lphA larvae respond normally to odorants and taste stimuli. Moreover, the lphA mutations do not affect adult flies' fast phototaxis or visually driven aspects of male sexual behavior, and electroretinograms recorded from the compound eyes of lphA/deficiency heterozygotes and lphA1/lphA2 females are normal. These observations suggest that the lphA gene affects a larval-specific aspect of visual system function.

Suppression of a lethal trisomic phenotype in Drosophila melanogaster by increased dosage of an unlinked locus.

One of the most extreme examples of gene dosage sensitivity is the Triplo-lethal locus (Tpl) on the third chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster, which is lethal when present in either one or three copies. Increased dosage of an unlinked locus, Isis, suppresses the triplo-lethal phenotype of Tpl, but not the haplo-lethal phenotype. We have mapped Isis to the X chromosome region 7E3-8A5, and shown that the suppression is a gene dosage effect. Altered dosage of Isis in the presence of two copies of Tpl has no obvious effects. By examining the interactions between Isis dosage and Tpl we suggest that Isis does not directly repress Tpl expression, but acts downstream on the triplo-lethal phenotype of Tpl.