Molecular mapping of deletion breakpoints on chromosome 4 of Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

As part of our effort to induce and identify mutations in all genes on chromosome 4 of Drosophila melanogaster, we have mapped the breakpoints

The Cytoskeletal Regulator Zyxin is Required for Viability in Drosophila melanogaster

“…As a result, few traditional genetic reagents exist for the study of genes localized to the fourth chromosome. Although our previous chromosomal in situ results suggested that the terminal deficiency Df(4)G removed the zyx102 gene (Renfranz et al, 2003), a recent molecular study (Podemski et al, 2004) indicated that the Df(4)G breakpoint occurs just distal to zyx102. At present, there are no other known deficiencies or transposable element insertions on the fourth chromosome that affect the zyx102 gene.…”

A novel genetic tool for clonal analysis of fourth chromosome mutations

“…The first consideration is that the loss of a fourth chromosome leads to the loss of one copy of the RpS3 ribosomal protein, a Minute gene, and as such clones will be predicted to grow more slowly than surrounding tissues. As alluded to in the results section, this effect can be mitigated by a variant of FYT in which the right arm of the second chromosome contains a mutation in M(2)53 1 . In this case overall development is slowed, and clone tissues should grow faster than surrounding tissues.…”

“…On the X chromosome there is a heat-inducible FLP-recombinase transgene (FLP) on a yellow white background. 7 One of the second chromosomes bears a FLP-recombinase recognition target site (FRT42D) located close to the centromere of chromosome 2R, a yellow + transgene, a ubiquitous source of Gal80, and terminally, a reciprocal translocation that links all genes of the fourth chromosome to the right arm of the second chromosome (2R). [9][10][11] This chromosome is referred to as FRT Yellow Translocation (FYT).…”

“…The barrier to routine mapping of genes on the fourth chromosome has been partly overcome by the generation and characterization of deletions with molecularly mapped breakpoints. [1][2][3] However, a general method for systematically analyzing the loss-of-function phenotypes of fourth chromosome genes in somatic mosaics has remained elusive for a number of reasons. Lack of recombination prevents the introduction of necessary markers onto fourth chromosomes carrying FLP-recombinase recognition target sites (FRT).…”

“…6 The high efficiency of this method stems from the use of the yeast FLP-FRT system. 7 However, this strategy requires generation of the appropriate transgenic material for each individual gene of interest, which is time consuming and can be challenging for large and complex genes.…”