Characterization of CG6115, a gene that affect locomotor rhythmicity and food behavior.

GUILLERMO BERNABÓ, CAROLINA REZÁVAL, L.AMARANTA AVENDAňO, D.LORENA FRANCO Y M.FERNANDA CERIANI

Huerta Grande, Cordoba

Congreso; Primera Reunion Conjunta de Neurociencias; 2009

About 64% of unique genes involved in neurodegeneration in humans have orthologs in Drosophila. A misexpression screen to identify genes involved in this process has been carried out in our laboratory. It consisted in examining locomotor behavior in young and aged flies. Flies that showed a progressive loss of rhythmic activity were chosen as candidates to reveal novel genes involved in neurodegenerative mechanisms. One of the mutants is 100B, where, as a result of the P element insertion, there is a striking downregulation of CG6115 expression. CG6115 encodes a gene of unknown function, with a putative zinc finger domain predicted in its protein sequence, thus implying that CG6115 may function as a transcription factor. The P element is also localized near another predicted gene: CG15133, whose expression levels remain unchanged by the insertion. A severe downregulation of CG6115 is likely the cause of the lethality observed when the mutation is present in homozygosis.Homozygous mutants cannot progress beyond larvae II. Mutant larvae are reduced in size and display an indifferent behavior towards food earlier than wild type or heterozygous larvae, despite clear indications of starvation at the molecular level. Restricted expression of a RNAi directed towards CG6115 caused progressive arhythmicity in adult flies, thus confirming a dependence of CG6115 levels for neuronal viability.This mutant provides a venue to investigate a possible link between a gene relevant for neuronal survival in circuits involved in feeding control.