The fruitless Gene Is Required for the Proper Formation of Axonal Tracts in the Embryonic Central Nervous System of Drosophila

The fruitless Gene Is Required for the Proper Formation of Axonal Tracts in the Embryonic Central Nervous System of Drosophila

Ho-Juhn Song^a, Jean-Christophe Billeter^b, Enrique Reynaud^c, Troy Carlo^b, Eric P. Spana^d, Norbert Perrimon^d, Stephen F. Goodwin^b, Bruce S. Baker^c, and Barbara J. Taylor^a
^a Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331-2914,
^b Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02454-9110,
^c Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5020
^d Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Corresponding author: Barbara J. Taylor, 3029 Cordley Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-2914., taylorb{at}bcc.orst.edu (E-mail)

Communicating editor: T. SCHÜPBACH

The fruitless (fru) gene in Drosophila melanogaster is a multifunctionalgene that has sex-specific functions in the regulation of malesexual behavior and sex-nonspecific functions affecting adultviability and external morphology. While much attention hasfocused on fru's sex-specific roles, less is known about itssex-nonspecific functions. We have examined fru's sex-nonspecificrole in embryonic neural development. fru transcripts from sex-nonspecificpromoters are expressed beginning at the earliest stages ofneurogenesis, and Fru proteins are present in both neurons andglia. In embryos that lack most or all fru function, FasII-and BP102-positive axons have defasciculation defects and growalong abnormal pathways in the CNS. These defects in axonalprojections in fru mutants were rescued by the expression ofspecific UAS-fru transgenes under the control of a pan-neuronalscabrous-GAL4 driver. Our results suggest that one of fru'ssex-nonspecific roles is to regulate the pathfinding abilityof axons in the embryonic CNS.

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