6. prune/Killar of prune: A Conditional Dominant Lethal Interaction in Drosophila

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the prune/Killer of prune (KPN) lethal interaction of Drosophila melanogaster. Immunoblot analysis of prune protein expression using a polyclonal anti-prune antibody demonstrated the presence of prune at all stages of development of Drosophila melanogaster. Maximum accumulation of prune protein occurred during pupal and adult stages. The smallest quantity of prune protein relative to total protein was present during the third larval instar stage, the stage during which prune/Killer of prune animals die. Several methods are employed in order to determine which tissues in the larvae are sensitive to the prune/Killer of prune lethal condition and which of these is responsible for the death of the entire organism. One method is simply to determine the tissues in which both prune and abnormal wing discs (AWD)/KPN proteins are expressed. Because AWD is expressed in most tissues of the third instar larvae and because very small amounts of prune protein are required to rescue the prune/Killer of prune interaction, any conclusion based on this method would require verification by another method. Another method, the yeast GAL4 targeted expression system, is being employed to reproduce the prune/Killer of prune lethal genotype in a subset of tissues in an otherwise viable animal.