Embryonic Expression of the Divergent Drosophila ß3-Tubulin Isoform Is Required for Larval Behavior

Corresponding author: Elizabeth C. Raff, Department of Biology, Indiana University, Jordan Hall 142, 1001 E. 3rd St., Bloomington, IN 47405., eraff{at}bio.indiana.edu (E-mail)

Communicating editor: R. S. HAWLEY

We have sought to define the developmental and cellular roles played by differential expression of distinct ß-tubulins. Drosophila ß3-tubulin (ß3) is a structurally divergent isoform transiently expressed during midembryogenesis. Severe ß3 mutations cause larval lethality resulting from failed gut function and consequent starvation. However, mutant larvae also display behavioral abnormalities consistent with defective sensory perception. We identified embryonic ß3 expression in several previously undefined sites, including different types of sensory organs. We conclude that abnormalities in foraging behavior and photoresponsiveness exhibited by prelethal mutant larvae reflect defective ß3 function in the embryo during development of chordotonal and other mechanosensory organs and of Bolwig's organ and nerve. We show that microtubule organization in the cap cells of chordotonal organs is altered in mutant larvae. Thus transient zygotic ß3 expression has permanent consequences for the architecture of the cap cell microtubule cytoskeleton in the larval sensilla, even when ß3 is no longer present. Our data provide a link between the microtubule cytoskeleton in embryogenesis and the behavioral phenotype manifested as defective proprioreception at the larval stage.

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