The Drosophila homolog of Aut1 is essential for autophagy and development.
The Drosophila homolog of yeast Aut1, CG6877/Draut1, is a ubiquitously expressed cytosolic protein. Draut1 loss of function was achieved by expression of an inverted repeat transgene inducing RNA interference. The effect is temperature-dependent and resembles an allelic series as described by Fortier, E. and Belote, J.M. (Genesis 26 (2000) 240-244). Draut1 loss of function larvae are unable to induce autophagy and heterophagy in fat body cells before pupariation and die during metamorphosis. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a multicellular animal lacking the function of a gene participating in the protein conjugation systems of autophagy.
Juhász
Gábor
G
Department of General Zoology, Eötvös Loránd University, H-1117 Pázmány sétány 1/C, Budapest, Hungary. szmrt@ludens.elte.hu
Csikós
György
G
Sinka
Rita
R
Erdélyi
Miklós
M
Sass
Miklós
M
D000818:Animals; D001343:Autophagy; D000071183:Autophagy-Related Proteins; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005216:Fat Body / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007814:Larva / Q000648:ultrastructure; D034622:RNA Interference; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D017385:Sequence Homology; D044763:Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzymes
C474771:Atg3 protein, Drosophila; D000071183:Autophagy-Related Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D044763:Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzymes; C104235:ATG3 protein, S cerevisiae