In our paper inventorying Minute genes in flies (Marygold et al. 2007, Genome Biol. 8(10): R216; FBrf0205398), we concluded that RpL23 (FBgn0010078) was not Minute based on the wild type phenotype of Df(2R)59AD heterozygotes. Unfortunately, later crosses here in Bloomington showed that the Df(2R)59AD stock examined for the paper was no good. The Bloomington Deletion Project recently isolated three deficiencies removing RpL23 and heterozygotes have strong, unmistakable Minute phenotypes. The deletions are Df(2R)BSC863, Df(2R)BSC864 and Df(2R)BSC865. The region containing the Minute locus extends from Release 5 coordinate 2R:18741702 (the distal end of Df(2R)BSC599 at 59B3) to 2R:18774154 (the distal end of Df(2R)BSC864 and the proximal ends of Df(2R)BSC783 and Df(2R)BSC784 at 59B4). The region contains seven genes (RpL23 through CG3499), but only six genes are candidate Minutes, because loss-of-function alleles of inaD are not Minute (see http://flybase.org/reports/FBgn0001263.html). As a ribosomal protein gene, RpL23 is the most obvious candidate, but the Minute phenotype cannot be formally attributed to it from this evidence. In the paper, we would have classified RpL23 as “likely Minute”. -- Kevin Cook, Ph.D. Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center Department of Biology Indiana University
