The dissonance mutation at the no-on-transient-A locus of D. melanogaster: genetic control of courtship song and visual behaviors by a protein with putative RNA-binding motifs

Abstract

Genetic and molecular results are here presented revealing that the dissonance (diss) courtship song mutation is an allele of the no-on-transient-A (nonA) locus of Drosophila melanogaster. diss (now called nonAdiss) was originally isolated as a mutant with aberrant pulse song, although it was then noted to exhibit defects in responses to visual stimuli as well. The lack of transient spikes in the electroretinogram (ERG) and optomotor blindness associated with nonAdiss are shown to be similar to the visual abnormalities caused by the original nonA mutations. nonAdiss failed to complement either the ERG or optomotor defects associated with four other nonA mutations. However, all four of these nonA mutants--which were isolated on visual criteria alone--sang a normal courtship song. nonAdiss complemented at least three of the nonA mutations with regard to the singing phenotype, as assessed by a new method for temporal analysis of the male's pulse song. Both visual and song abnormalities caused by nonAdiss were rescued by P-element-mediated transformation with overlapping 11 and 16 kilobase (kb) fragments of genomic DNA (originally cloned from the nonA locus by Jones and Rubin, 1990). Analysis of behavioral phenotypes in transformed flies carrying mutagenized versions of the 11 kb genomic fragment (in a nonAdiss genomic background) localized the rescuing DNA to a region containing an open reading frame that encodes a polypeptide (NONA) with similarity to a family of RNA-binding proteins. Immunohistochemical determination of NONA's spatial and temporal expression revealed that it is localized to the nuclei of cells in many neural and non-neural tissues, at all stages of the life cycle after very early in development. Genetic connections between the control of two quite different behaviors--reproductive and visual--are discussed, along with precedences for generally expressed gene products playing roles in specific behaviors.

NONO couples the circadian clock to the cell cycle

“…NONO was initially identified by its homology to splicing factors (33) and as a Drosophila factor involved in courtship songs (34). Since then, diverse studies have described it as a protein with pleiotropic functions mainly involved in RNA processing and transport, as well as a transcription factor (27).…”

Gene elav of Drosophila melanogaster: A prototype for neuronal‐specific RNA binding protein gene family that is conserved in flies and humans

“…For instance, in situ transcript hybridization studies on the Hrb98DE gene detected an even distribution of abundant maternal transcripts in early embryos; however, new zygotic transcription appeared to be localized primarily to the central nervous system, such that by late embryonic stage, transcripts were highly enriched in the condensed CNS (S. Haynes, personal communication). A transient enrichment in the nervous system has been also observed for the transcripts of the gene n o-on-transient-A (results of Stanewsky and Saumweber, cited in Rendahl, Jones, Kulkarni, et al, 1992) that encodes a RBD-containing protein (Rendahl et al, 1992); whether this protein associated with RNA or DNA is not yet resolved.…”

The Hrp65 self-interaction is mediated by an evolutionarily conserved domain and is required for nuclear import of Hrp65 isoforms that lack a nuclear localization signal

“…In Drosophila, mutations of the NonA gene cause defects in the central nervous system that affect vision and behavior in the fly (Jones and Rubin, 1990;Rendahl et al, 1992), but the function of NonA at the molecular level is unknown.…”