초파리 norpA 돌연변이주들의 생리학적 특성 분석 = Physiological Analysis of the Drosophila melanogaster norpA Mutants

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Mutations in the norpA gene which encodes the photoreceptor-specific phospholipase C affect drastically the visual signal transduction process in Drosophila melanogaster. In the present work we have grouped the 31 norpA mutants depending on the positions of their defects. For this purpose we examined the level of transcription and translation of the norpA gene in the mutants and analyzed their photoresponses by electroretinogram (ERG). The Western blot analysis using antibody against the norpA gene product revealed that 11 mutants have the point mutations within the protein coding region. The RNA dot blot analysis showed that at least 14 mutants contain the point mutations affecting significantly the transcription of the norpA gene. The ERG analysis of the norpA mutants suggests that the level of photoresponse is determined by the nature of point mutations present in the mutants, not by the amount of the gene product.. Further molecular analysis of the norpA mutants will greatly help the understanding of the phospholipase C functions as well as the mechanism of the eye-specific gene expression.