Skip to main content
PMC home page
Genetics logoLink to Genetics
. 1984 Dec;108(4):897–911. doi: 10.1093/genetics/108.4.897

Genetic Studies of Membrane Excitability in Drosophila: Lethal Interaction between Two Temperature-Sensitive Paralytic Mutations

Barry Ganetzky 1
PMCID: PMC1224272  PMID: 6096206

Abstract

Two mutants of Drosophila melanogaster, para ts1 (1-53.9) and napts (2-56.2) both display similar temperature-sensitive paralysis associated with blockage in the conduction of nerve action potentials, suggesting that the two gene products have a similar function. This idea is supported by the observation that the double mutant is unconditionally lethal. Genetic analysis of this synergistic interaction has revealed the following: 1) it specifically involves the para and nap loci; (2) all para alleles interact with napts, but the strength of the interaction varies in an allele-dependent fashion; (3) lethality of the double mutant occurs during the first larval instar with parats1 but differs with other para alleles; (4) hypodosage of para + causes lethality in a napts background. These results together with previous electrophysiological, behavioral and pharmacological studies of these mutants suggest that both para and nap affect sodium channels and possibly encode different subunits.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (936.6 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Barchi R. L. Protein components of the purified sodium channel from rat skeletal muscle sarcolemma. J Neurochem. 1983 May;40(5):1377–1385. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1983.tb13580.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Baumgold J., Parent J. B., Spector I. Development of sodium channels during differentiation of chick skeletal muscle in culture. I. Binding studies. J Neurosci. 1983 May;3(5):995–1003. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.03-05-00995.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Catterall W. A. The molecular basis of neuronal excitability. Science. 1984 Feb 17;223(4637):653–661. doi: 10.1126/science.6320365. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Ganetzky B., Wu C. F. Drosophila mutants with opposing effects on nerve excitability: genetic and spatial interactions in repetitive firing. J Neurophysiol. 1982 Mar;47(3):501–514. doi: 10.1152/jn.1982.47.3.501. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Grigliatti T. A., Hall L., Rosenbluth R., Suzuki D. T. Temperature-sensitive mutations in Drosophila melanogaster. XIV. A selection of immobile adults. Mol Gen Genet. 1973 Jan 24;120(2):107–114. doi: 10.1007/BF00267238. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. HODGKIN A. L., KATZ B. The effect of sodium ions on the electrical activity of giant axon of the squid. J Physiol. 1949 Mar 1;108(1):37–77. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1949.sp004310. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hall J. C. Genetics of the nervous system in Drosophila. Q Rev Biophys. 1982 May;15(2):223–479. doi: 10.1017/s0033583500004844. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Jackson F. R., Wilson S. D., Strichartz G. R., Hall L. M. Two types of mutants affecting voltage-sensitive sodium channels in Drosophila melanogaster. Nature. 1984 Mar 8;308(5955):189–191. doi: 10.1038/308189a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kauvar L. M. Reduced [3H]-tetrodotoxin binding in the napts paralytic mutant of Drosophila. Mol Gen Genet. 1982;187(1):172–173. doi: 10.1007/BF00384402. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Keynes R. D., Ritchie J. M., Rojas E. The binding of tetrodotoxin to nerve membranes. J Physiol. 1971 Feb;213(1):235–254. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1971.sp009379. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Miller J. A., Agnew W. S., Levinson S. R. Principal glycopeptide of the tetrodotoxin/saxitoxin binding protein from Electrophorus electricus: isolation and partial chemical and physical characterization. Biochemistry. 1983 Jan 18;22(2):462–470. doi: 10.1021/bi00271a032. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. NARAHASHI T., MOORE J. W., SCOTT W. R. TETRODOTOXIN BLOCKAGE OF SODIUM CONDUCTANCE INCREASE IN LOBSTER GIANT AXONS. J Gen Physiol. 1964 May;47:965–974. doi: 10.1085/jgp.47.5.965. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Nash D., Janca F. C. Hypomorphic lethal mutations and their implications for the interpretation of lethal complementation studies in Drosophila. Genetics. 1983 Dec;105(4):957–968. doi: 10.1093/genetics/105.4.957. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Siddiqi O., Benzer S. Neurophysiological defects in temperature-sensitive paralytic mutants of Drosophila melanogaster. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1976 Sep;73(9):3253–3257. doi: 10.1073/pnas.73.9.3253. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Simpson P. Maternal-Zygotic Gene Interactions during Formation of the Dorsoventral Pattern in Drosophila Embryos. Genetics. 1983 Nov;105(3):615–632. doi: 10.1093/genetics/105.3.615. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Suzuki D. T., Grigliatti T., Williamson R. Temperature-sensitive mutations in Drosophila melanogaster. VII. A mutation (para-ts) causing reversible adult paralysis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1971 May;68(5):890–893. doi: 10.1073/pnas.68.5.890. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Takata M., Moore J. W., Kao C. Y., Fuhrman F. A. Blockage of sodium conductance increase in lobster giant axon by tarichatoxin (tetrodotoxin). J Gen Physiol. 1966 May;49(5):977–988. doi: 10.1085/jgp.49.5.977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Genetics are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES