The Tofu mutation compensates for the loss of functional BEAF in Drosophila

Compensatory mutations offer clues to deciphering the role of a particular protein in cellularprocesses. Here we investigate an unknown compensatory mutation, present in the BEAFNP6377fly line, that provides sufficient rescue of the ovary defect phenotype caused by null BEAFalleles to allow maintenance of fly stocks lacking BEAF. We call this mutation Tofu. We employboth classical genetics and genomic sequencing to attempt to identify the mutation. We findevidence that points to a mutation in a predicted Polycomb response element upstream of theribbon gene, which may lead to aberrant rib expression.

补偿性突变可为解析特定蛋白质在细胞过程中的作用提供线索。本研究针对存在于BEAF^NP6377果蝇品系中的一种未知补偿性突变展开探究，该突变可充分挽救由无功能BEAF等位基因引发的卵巢缺陷表型，使得维持缺失BEAF的果蝇品系成为可能。我们将该突变命名为Tofu。我们采用经典遗传学与基因组测序相结合的方法，尝试鉴定该突变。我们发现的证据表明，该突变位于ribbon基因上游的预测多梳蛋白应答元件（Polycomb response element）区域内，这可能会导致rib基因的异常表达。