Calmodulin Point Mutations Affect Drosophila Development and Behavior

Abstract

Calmodulin (CAM) is recognized as a major intermediary in intracellular calcium signaling, but as yet little is known of its role in developmental and behavioral processes. We have generated and studied mutations to the endogenous Cam gene of Drosophila melanogaster that change single amino acids within the protein coding region. One of these mutations produces a striking pupal lethal phenotype involving failure of head eversion. Various mutant combinations produce specific patterns of ectopic wing vein formation or melanotic scabs on the cuticle. Anaphase chromosome bridging is also seen as a maternal effect during the early embryonic nuclear divisions. In addition, specific behavioral defects such as poor climbing and flightlessness are detected among these mutants. Comparisons with other Drosophila mutant phenotypes suggests potential CAM targets that may mediate these developmental and behavioral effects, and analysis of the CAM crystal structure suggests the structural consequences of the individual mutations.

The effect of Rhodococcus rhodochrous supplementation on black soldier fly (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) development, nutrition, and waste conversion

“…Calcium is also required in many cases for initiation of DNA synthesis (Martelly et al, 1983). The potential of calmodulin as a growth modulator has already been demonstrated in other systems (Nelson et al, 1997;Takuwa et al, 1995a,b) and work is underway to understand the direct impact of calmodulin and calcium in black soldier fly development and waste conversion. Being black soldier fly larvae are known to be high in calcium (Johannsen, 1922), the potential link with our discovery is that bacterial supplementation enhanced calcium deposition in the exoskeleton Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host (Skonieczna-Zydecka et al, 2020).…”

Drosophila Auditory Organ Genes and Genetic Hearing Defects

“…Excess mechanical amplification with gains greater than 15 characterized Cam 5 /Cam n339 (Nelson et al, 1997) and bw 1 mutants (Figures 5G and 6B), in which also CAP thresholds were slightly, though not significantly, decreased. Their ears were hypersensitive in that faint sounds induced larger antennal displacements than in control flies, and their antennae continuously oscillated spontaneously in the absence of sound (Figures 6C).…”

Plasma membrane calcium ATPase downregulation in dopaminergic neurons alters cellular physiology and motor behaviour in Drosophila melanogaster

“…Considering that climbing ability reflects Ca 2+ intracellular dynamics (Nelson et al, 1997) and TH ‐neurons are associated with motor function, we performed climbing assays in our model. TH‐Gal4 > PMCA RNAi flies climbed less than controls at 10 days ( F = 4.801; df = 2; P = 0.0294), but not at 5 days after eclosion ( P > 0.05) (Figure 4a).…”