sev proximal promoter sequences from -967bp to +89bp drive expression of a 2.1kb ro fragment with a bacterial translation initiation sequence composed of both cDNA and genomic sequence which is missing the first intron, but contains the second intron and 3' untranslated region including the poly(A) site.
Homozygous flies have a visible eye phenotype. Many of the corneal lenses have an altered morphology, cone cells are disrupted or missing, and there are defects in primary pigment and bristle cell organisation and number. The R7 photoreceptor cell is often transformed into a R1-R6 photoreceptor type.
rosev.PI, sevS11.Tag:MYC has viable phenotype
Not lethal in combination with sevS11.T:Hsap\MYC.
Mosaic analysis shows that ectopic expression of ro in the R7 cell alone by rosev.PI can transform it into an outer photoreceptor cell. sev14 flies carrying rosev.PI have no R7 photoreceptor cell, indicating that ro is unable to bypass the requirement for sev function to specify neuronal fate in the R7 precursor cell.