Dosage dependent modifiers of white alleles in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

As part of a study to identify dosage-sensitive modifiers of the white eye colour locus and the retrotransposon, copia, a segmental aneuploid screen was conducted. It surveys the autosomal complement of the genome for dosage dependent modifiers of white, including ones effective upon retrotransposon insertion-induced alleles. Several regions were found which, when present as a segmental trisomy, affected one or more of the alleles tested in a strong and consistent fashion. Two of these regions have been identified as containing previously described modifiers, Darkener-of-apricot and Inverse regulator-a. The remainder identify new white allele modifiers. Selected segmental monosomics were also tested where possible for regions exhibiting a trisomic effect. At least three regions were found to have a dosage-dependent effect in one, two and three copies.