Characterization of HP1 Double-Mutants in Drosophila melanogaster
Sarah Sims
Mina Y. Momeni
Nicole C. Riddle
10.6084/m9.figshare.12150654.v1
https://tagc2020.figshare.com/articles/poster/Characterization_of_HP1_Double-Mutants_in_Drosophila_melanogaster/12150654
<p>Many
proteins are involved in maintaining chromatin states, including the
Heterochromatin Protein 1 (HP1) family. Drosophila
melanogaster has
three somatic homologs of the HP1 family: HP1a, HP1B, and HP1C. The effects of
removing individual HP1 homologs has been investigated; however, little
research has been performed on the loss of multiple HP1 proteins. We generated
double-mutant fly strains lacking pairwise combinations of the HP1 proteins and
investigated the impact of this manipulation. HP1B/HP1C double-mutant third
instar larvae had a 7.8% and 15% survival rate, depending on the HP1b allele
used. Of these surviving double-mutant larvae, 2.4% and 8.3% survived to the
adult stage, again depending on the specific HP1b allele uses. These data
illustrate that, although detrimental to the overall health of the flies,
complete loss of HP1B and HP1C is survivable in D. melanogaster, raising the
possibility that other HP1 family members may compensate for their loss.
Ongoing studies focus on HP1a/HP1B/HP1C double-mutants at earlier stages of
development to determine at which stage most animals die and on the HP1a/HP1C
double-mutants. <u>Our
study highlights possible crosstalk and cooperative functions between HP1
proteins, and future studies will provide insights into the potentially
overlapping functions of HP1 homologs. </u></p>
2020-04-20 21:35:30
Drosophila
Genetics