Visual Mutations Reveal Opposing Effects of Illumination on Arousal in Drosophila

Cheng, Yuzhong; Nash, Howard A.

doi:10.1534/genetics.107.085324

Cited by 5 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…In the absence of anesthetic, no mutant line performs worse than control, so the poor performance of the JC lines in the presence of anesthetic does not appear to be due to weakened baseline locomotion. Note that the values for the inaF mutant confirm our previous observation that the relative resistance of this strain to halothane is dependent on ambient lighting (Cheng and Nash, 2008). See Methods for a description of the countercurrent test, the formulas used to calculate Pt and its confidence limits, and the basis for assignment of significant differences…”

Section: Figures and Tablessupporting

confidence: 87%

“…In recent work, we have concluded that ambient illumination has both positive and negative effects on arousal, and mutations can influence halothane sensitivity by changing the balance between these effects (Cheng and Nash, 2008). The most dramatic example of this phenomenon involved a null allele of inaF , the gene mutated in line JC09 (Cheng and Nash, 2007); in this case the mutant phenotype disappeared when the line was tested in the dark (Cheng and Nash, 2008). To see if this phenomenon was common in our mutant collection, Canton-S and the mutant lines JC02, JC05, JC07, JC11, and JC13 were tested both in ambient light and in the dark for climbing ability in the presence of a modest concentration of halothane.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the past, the influence of illumination on anesthetic sensitivity was assessed by carrying out the distribution test under ambient lighting and in dim red light (Cheng and Nash, 2008). The latter requires the observer to have very sharp night vision, and not every experimenter could score the outcome with confidence.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Genetic Effects inDrosophilaon the Potency of Diverse General Anesthetics: A Distinctive Pattern of Altered Sensitivity

Campbell

Guo

et al. 2009

Journal of Neurogenetics

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Mutations that influence the sensitivity of an organism to a volatile general anesthetic can be divided into two classes. In one, sensitivity to all other volatile agents is affected to a similar degree. Although this class may contain mutations of interest for understanding anesthesia, it is also likely to contain mutations that merely alter general health. In the second class, mutations confer non-uniform effects on potency (NEP), i.e., larger effects for some volatile anesthetics than for others. Members of this class are of special interest for studies of arousal and its pharmacological suppression because they not only avoid the pitfall of effects on global health, they imply the existence of drug targets that are preferentially affected by particular agents. In this work we provide the first systematic investigation of the relative frequency and diversity of NEP mutations in Drosophila. As a first step we isolated and characterized a set of P element insertion mutations that confer altered sensitivity of the fruit fly to the clinical anesthetic halothane. Then we tested the members of this collection for their effect on the sensitivity of flies to five other volatile agents. Not only do we find that most of the mutations show non-uniform effects, they share a characteristic arrangement of altered potencies (halothane >>desflurane ≥ enflurane ∼ isoflurane ∼ methoxyflurane > sevoflurane). From this result, although we do not know how direct or indirect are the effects of the mutations, we infer the existence of a biologically relevant target for anesthetic action that has a distinct preference for halothane over other agents. Intriguingly, P element insertions that co-map with several NEP loci have been shown to alter the fly's response to cocaine and ethanol, suggesting that common genetic elements are involved in the response to all three drugs.

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Section: Figures and Tablessupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Genetic Effects inDrosophilaon the Potency of Diverse General Anesthetics: A Distinctive Pattern of Altered Sensitivity

Campbell

Guo

et al. 2009

Journal of Neurogenetics

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“…Therefore, we concluded that in daylight w males are dazzled by the over-flow of light and that over-excitation of the photoreceptors suppresses their sexual arousal. In this context, it is remarkable that the sensitivity to the anesthetic halothane of w 1118 flies is increased in ambient light as compared to darkness, which suggests that light over-excitation affects the general state of arousal of w flies in daylight [31].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of the White Locus on the Courtship Behavior of Drosophila Males

2013

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Since its discovery by Morgan, the Drosophila white gene has become one of the most intensely studied genes and has been widely used as a genetic marker. Earlier reports that over- and misexpression of White protein in Drosophila males leads to male-male courtship implicated white in courtship control. While previous studies suggested that it is the mislocalization of White protein within cells that causes the courtship phenotype, we demonstrate here that also the lack of extra-retinal White can cause very similar behavioral changes. Moreover, we provide evidence that the lack of White function increases the sexual arousal of males in general, of which the enhanced male-male courtship might be an indirect effect. We further show that white mutant flies are not only optomotor blind but also dazzled by the over-flow of light in daylight. Implications of these findings for the proper interpretation of behavioral studies with white mutant flies are discussed.

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“…The second aim was to provide the tested lines with a wild-type copy of the white ( w ) gene, since the DrosDel parental and deletion lines all bear an allele of this gene ( w 1118 ) that is known to alter anesthetic sensitivity. 11,12 The final aim was to enable the possibility of finding genes that have a specific interaction with na . When homozygous, mutations in this gene confer strong effects on anesthesia sensitivity, but heterozygotes are indistinguishable from wild-type.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Gene Copy Number Variation on Anesthesia in Drosophila melanogaster

Alone¹,

Rodriguez

Noland

et al. 2009

Anesthesiology

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Background Chromosomal deletions and duplications, which result in halving or doubling of copy number in a block of genes, are an important source of variation between individuals. Phenotypic effects of copy number variation are commonly observed but, to our knowledge, effects on sensitivity to volatile anesthetics have not been assessed in any organism. Methods The potency with which halothane depresses the righting reflex of fruit flies was measured in congenic Drosophila strains, each of which was heterozygous for a deletion of average size ~ 400 kb. Over 200 strains were examined, thereby scanning~half of the fly genome. Results Although the vast majority of deletion heterozygotes were indistinguishable from the control, eight had significantly altered sensitivity to halothane. Genetic tests supported the hypothesis that the change in anesthetic sensitivity was due to reduction in copy number and not adventitious mutations in the strains. Among the eight outliers, the difference in halothane potency ranged from a 25% increase to a 15% decrease. When these lines were tested with enflurane, isoflurane and sevoflurane, changes of similar magnitude but distinctive patterns were found. Conclusions Variation in gene copy number has a significant impact on anesthetic sensitivity in Drosophila melanogaster. The level of transcription of a few genes must thus be limiting for a normal response to volatiles. Since coupling between gene copy and gene expression is universal and since the components of the fly’s nervous system are highly conserved, our work provides a rationale for investigating the clinical impact of copy number variation.

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Visual Mutations Reveal Opposing Effects of Illumination on Arousal in Drosophila

Cited by 5 publications

References 25 publications

Genetic Effects inDrosophilaon the Potency of Diverse General Anesthetics: A Distinctive Pattern of Altered Sensitivity

Genetic Effects inDrosophilaon the Potency of Diverse General Anesthetics: A Distinctive Pattern of Altered Sensitivity

Influence of the White Locus on the Courtship Behavior of Drosophila Males

Impact of Gene Copy Number Variation on Anesthesia in Drosophila melanogaster

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