Summary
Mutants have been isolated in the synthetic enzyme for the neurotransmitter acetylcholine inDrosophila melanogaster. Four lethal mutations were induced in theCat gene that codes for choline acetyltransferase, following cytogenetic determination of the gene's location. Two of the alleles are temperature-sensitive, producing sufficient enzyme activity for survival at 18 °C but losing all detectable activity for choline acetyltransferase if shifted to 30 °C.
Concomitant with the loss of enzyme activity, abnormalities appear in a synaptic component of the electroretinogram ofCat mutants. Defects in behavior are also the apparent consequences ofCat mutations. Early effects of shifting the mutants to high temperature are seen on the complex behavior of male courtship, followed by paralysis and death with longer exposures.
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Abbreviations
- ACh :
-
acetylcholine
- CAT :
-
choline acetyltransferase
- AChE :
-
acetylcholinesterase
- ERG :
-
electroretinogram
- ts :
-
temperature sensitive
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I thank Jeffrey C. Hall, in whose laboratory this work was done, for advice and support. I thank Kristin White for technical assistance in some of the genetic tests. This work was supported by U.S. Public Health Service Grant NS 12346 to J.C. Hall and D.R. Kankel, and by funds from an N.I.H. Biomedical Research Support Grant to Brandeis University. R.J.G. was supported by U.S. Public Health Service Training Grant GM 07122 and by a Goldwyn Fellowship from the Biology Department at Brandeis University. I thank Jeff Hall, Eve Marder, Kalpana White and Laurie Tompkins for help with the various stages of the manuscript.
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Greenspan, R.J. Mutations of choline acetyltransferase and associated neural defects. J. Comp. Physiol. 137, 83–92 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00656920
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00656920