Genetic Studies on Dynamin Function in Drosophila

Abstract

The shibire^ts2 mutation of Drosophila melanogaster causes a temperature sensitive inhibition of endocytosis; this in turn leads to synaptic-vesicle depletion and consequent paralysis. Heat-pulses delivered during development of shibire^ts2 individuals affect the morphology of a number of adult structures. A simple screening protocol has been used to isolate several mutations that partially suppress the temperature-sensitive paralytic phenotype of shibire^ts2 mutant animals. All of these mutations very tightly linked to shibire and are likely to be second site intragenic mutations that restore partial activity to the shibire^ts2 product. The mutations suppress both behavioral, and easily-scored developmental phenotypes of shibire^ts2 characterized in this paper. Our results suggest that defects in endocytosis, and not in microtubule interactions, are responsible for all of the phenotypes of shibire^ts2 mutant Drosophila examined in this study.

Key Words:

• shibire
• development
• Notch
• endocytosis
• behavior
• synapse