Ritsu: A Rhythm Mutant from a Natural Population of Drosophila Melanogaster

Abstract

We found a new clock mutation, ritsu (rit), in an inbred strain separated from a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster in Yamaguchi, Japan. This mutation lengthens the free-running period of the wild-type locomotor activity rhythm from ca. 24 hr to ca. 27 hr by lengthening both active and rest phases equally. To determine the loci involved, we established eight lines of chromosomal substituted flies between the inbred strain and Canton-S, and found that a major gene is located on the second chromosome. Furthermore, the result of recombination analysis suggested that the locus might be near or to the left of cl (2-18.8).

Key Words:

• circadian rhythms
• locomotor activity
• phase angles
• activity/rest ratios
• autosomal mutations