Abstract
ABSTRACTCdc14 is an evolutionarily conserved serine/threonine phosphatase. Originally identified in Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a cell cycle regulator, its role in other eukaryotic organisms remains unclear. In Drosophila melanogaster, Cdc14 is encoded by a single gene, thus facilitating its study. We found that Cdc14 expression is highest in the testis of adult flies and that cdc14 null flies are viable. cdc14 null female and male flies do not display altered fertility. cdc14 null males, however, exhibit decreased sperm competitiveness. Previous studies have shown that Cdc14 plays a role in ciliogenesis during zebrafish development. In Drosophila, sensory neurons are ciliated. We found that the Drosophila cdc14 null mutants have defects in chemosensation and mechanosensation as indicated by decreased avoidance of repellant substances and decreased response to touch. In addition, we show that cdc14 null mutants have defects in lipid metabolism and resistance to starvation. These studies highlight the diversity of Cdc14 function in eukaryotes despite its structural conservation.
Highlights
Cdc14 phosphatases are a well conserved family of proline-directed serine/threonine phosphatases (Mocciaro et al, 2010)
We found that the Drosophila cdc14 null mutants have defects in chemosensation and mechanosensation as indicated by decreased avoidance of repellant substances and decreased response to touch
In the current study, we used ends-out homologous recombination to knock out the single Drosophila cdc14 gene (Fisher et al, 2012; Gong and Golic, 2003)
Summary
Cdc phosphatases are a well conserved family of proline-directed serine/threonine phosphatases (Mocciaro et al, 2010). We observed no significant differences in the number of progeny produced by cdc null versus control males at either 0–5 or 6–11 days of age (Fig. S3A) These data suggest that cdc loss does not affect male fertility. The loss of touch sensitivity in cdc null larvae was partially rescued by maternally contributed cdc (cdc14Δ1-Maternal; Fig. S8B) These data suggest a role for cdc in the function and/or formation of ciliated Type I sensory neurons controlling mechanosensation. We observed no differences between the cdc null, control, and rescue larvae (Fig. S10B) These results suggest the observed defects in cdc null animals are specific to ciliated cell types (e.g. Type I sensory neurons and sperm).
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