4.15kb SpeI fragment of the w gene that carries a deletion of a large part of the first intron and the regulatory region is reduced to 300bp preceding the transcription start site.
Males carrying w+mC in a w[+] background show comparable levels of courtship discrimination as Oregon-R males (showing higher levels of courtship towards decapitated females than towards decapitated males).
groups of naive males carrying w+mC in a w[+] background do not show chaining behaviour under daylight conditions, the same behaviour as is seen in Oregon-R males.
Eye colour: approximately 10% of P{GMroX1} transgenic stocks show sex-specific eye pigmentation patterns; in many cases mini-w expression is very low or silent in females but in the same lines, males express mini-w, often in mosaic sectors. The addition of a Y chromosome does not overcome the silencing seen in the females. Several of the P{GMroX1} lines show pairing-sensitive repression; showing significantly less eye pigmentation when homozygous than when hemizygous.
Transfection of the w+mC as part of the P{Ubi-GFP.D} construct, followed by heat shock, leads to male mutants that show an increase in male-male courtship compared to wild-type flies.
Eye colour: flies carrying w+mC in a w1118 background have eye colours ranging from yellow to red, depending on the P{CaSpeR-3} insertion strain used.
Heat induced expression of Scer\GAL4hs.PB in P{UAS-lacZ.U/l5} flies does not affect eye pigment levels.
Light affects basal male courtship: males are inhibited by white light
Male-male courtship occurs between flies following ectopic expression of w+mC. Male-male courtship behaviour increases with age, flies 1 week old or older show high levels of courtship compared to one day posteclosion males. Olfactory, visual and gustatory responses are not affected by heat shock. Surgical ablation of the antenna and/or maxillary palps, or the wings has no effect on male-male courtship. Under red light male-male courtship is substantially reduced, restoration of white light increases courtship. For all classes of surgically treated flies red light diminishes courting activity. Male-male courtship is not due simply to an absence of rejection behaviour (wing flicking) as heat shocked males will court a non-w+mC male exhibiting rejection behaviour. Also the courting is not due to increased sexual attractance as non-w+mC males will not court heat shocked w+mC males.
Transformants carrying one copy of w+mC have more lightly pigmented eyes than flies carrying two copies.
Partially restores pigmentation in w- eyes. Heat shock during a period late in development of flies also carrying P{GAL4::Pc-Hsp70} exhibit a uniform reduction or abolition of eye pigmentation. Heat induction earlier in development does not affect eye pigmentation.
The w+mC mutation shows incomplete dosage compensation when inserted in the second or third chromosome (comparison of heterozygous males and homozygous females). The w+mC mutation of P{yp1,2,mini-w} or P{otu-lacZ.R} insertions into the X chromosome shows complete or hyperdosage compensation, such that hemizygous males have either equal or greater level of pigmentation than females.
Transformant heat shocked males exhibit homosexual courtship behaviour.
Variegated expression of w occurs when the minigene is present in repeat arrays. Variegation is particularly strong for repeated transposons at a euchromatic site near heterochromatin, but also results from repeats at a site distant from heterochromatin. Inactivation strengthens with increasing copy number. The variegated phenotypes are subject to the effects of genetic modifiers of PEV.
Degree of pigmentation varies from very pale yellow to dark red, depending on genomic site of insertion.
When introduced into w- flies the eye colour can vary from pale yellow to red depending on site of integration.
w+mC has abnormal eye color phenotype, enhanceable by Taf91
w+mC is a suppressor of abnormal eye color phenotype of g50e
w+mC is a suppressor of pigment cell phenotype of g50e
Transfection of w+mC is capable of increasing the amount of pigment in the eyes of we(g), g2/Y mutant flies, depending on the level of its expression. Strong expression of w+mC is capable of restoring pigment to g2/Y single mutant levels, thus rescuing the we(g) effect. One copy of the w+mC transgene is sufficient to increase the amount of red pigment in the eyes of both male and female w+, g50e flies.
The eye pigmentation of flies carrying w+mC in a w1118 flies is reduced by e(y)11 in a number of different P{CaSpeR-3} insertion strains.
FBal0028610:, w1118 is rescued by w+mC/w+mC
w+mC rescues the low courtship vigor index seen in daylight in w1118 males in response to a receptive virgin female.
w1118 males rescued with w+mC court decapitated virgin females vigorously, independent of light conditions.
The reduced sexual discrimination of w1118 males in the dark (they show similar courtship levels towards decapitated males and decapitated females) is not rescued by w+mC.
In daylight, w1118 males rescued by w+mC show a clear courtship preference for decapitated females over decapitated males, although the level of courtship towards decapitated males shown by the rescued males is higher than the level seen in Oregon-R males under these conditions.
Groups of naive w1118 males rescued by w+mC show chaining behaviour under daylight conditions. This behaviour can be rescued by Dp(1;Y)w+y+.
Transgene expresses subnormal amounts of eye pigment.
Used as a reporter in experiments with a chromatin insulator from the chicken Î’-globin domain.
Carried in cosmid vector cosP{cosPer}.
129 different lines carrying P{CaSpeR} have been generated by transformation, in order to investigate the effect of location of the P{CaSpeR} element, gene dosage and sex of the transformed flies on w+mC expression. lzb suppresses the expression of w+mC, the degree of suppression depending on the location and dosage of w+mC.
Shows greater (full) dosage compensation in X chromosomal than in autosomal sites.
The w+mC allele has been used as a semidominant marker in the introgression of marked segments of D.mauritiana chromosomes into D.simulans.
Carried in plasmids "P{hs-per}" and "P{hs-tim-GFP}".
Ufo1 suppresses w eye phenotype.