Genetics, Vol 129, 409-422, Copyright © 1991

INVESTIGATIONS

The lethal(1)TW-6(cs) Mutation of Drosophila melanogaster Is a Dominant Antimorphic Allele of nod and Is Associated With a Single Base Change in the Putative ATP-Binding Domain

R. S. Rasooly, C. M. New, P. Zhang, R. S. Hawley and B. S. Baker
Department of Molecular Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461

The l(1)TW-6(cs) mutation is a cold-sensitive recessive lethal mutation in Drosophila melanogaster, that affects both meiotic and mitotic chromosome segregation. We report the isolation of three revertants of this mutation. All three revert both the meiotic and mitotic effects as well as the cold sensitivity, demonstrating that all three phenotypes are due to a single lesion. We further show that these revertants fail to complement an amorphic allele of the nod (no distributive disjunction) locus, which encodes a kinesin-like protein. These experiments demonstrate that l(1)TW-6(cs) is an antimorphic allele of nod, and we rename it nod(DTW). Sequencing of the nod locus on a nod(DTW)-bearing chromosome reveals a single base change in the putative ATP-binding region of the motor domain of nod. Recessive, loss-of-function mutations at the nod locus specifically disrupt the segregation of nonexchange chromosomes in female meiosis. We demonstrate that, at 23.5{deg}, the meiotic defects in nod(DTW)/+ females are similar to those observed in nod/nod females; that is, the segregation of nonexchange chromosomes is abnormal. However, in nod(DTW)/nod(DTW) females, or in nod(DTW)/+ females at 18{deg}, we observe a more severe meiotic defect that apparently affects the segregation of both exchange and nonexchange chromosomes. In addition, nod(DTW) homozygotes and hemizygous males have previously been shown to exhibit mitotic defects including somatic chromosome breakage and loss. We propose that the defective protein encoded by the nod(DTW) allele interferes with proper chromosome movement during both meiosis and mitosis, perhaps by binding irreversibly to microtubules.

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