Psychiatry related information on disco

• These mutations also affect adult locomotor activity rhythms, as disco flies are arrhythmic under conditions of constant darkness (DD) [1].

High impact information on disco

• To determine the state of the circadian pacemaker in disco mutants, we constructed with pers double mutants (a short period allele of the period gene) and assayed their behavioral rhythms in light-dark cycles (LD), and their biochemical rhythms of period gene expression under both LD and DD conditions [1].
• We determined the nucleotide sequence of the disco gene to be unique when compared with sequences in a number of databases [2].
• Mutations in the disco (disconnected) gene prevent the establishment of stable connections between the larval optic nerves, the Bolwig's nerves, and their target cells in the brain during embryonic development [2].
• The amino acid sequence of each pair is homologous to that of the single pair of zinc fingers of the Drosophila transcription factor encoded by disco [3].
• We also show that in tsh mutants, disco is expressed in the trunk segments, probably explaining the partial trunk to head transformation reported in these mutants, but more importantly demonstrating interactions between members of this regionalization network [4].

Biological context of disco

• We report the identification of the Disco Interacting Protein 1 (DIP1) gene isolated in a yeast interaction trap screen using the zinc finger protein disconnected (disco) as a bait [5].
• Genetic mosaic studies with the disconnected (disco) mutation demonstrate that survival of R-cells does not depend on the genotype of the eye, but is correlated with the presence of connections to the optic ganglia [6].
• Mutations at the disconnected (disco) locus in Drosophila melanogaster cause cultures of this insect to eclose in an essentially arrhythmic manner and also nearly eliminate free-running circadian rhythms of locomotor activity [7].
• Free-running locomotor activity and eclosion rhythms of Drosophila melanogaster, mutant at the disconnected (disco) locus, are substantially different from the wild-type phenotype [8].

Anatomical context of disco

• We find that disco expression in the optic lobe primordium, a group of cells contacted by the developing optic nerve, depends on an autoregulatory feedback loop [9].
• We used a P[GAL4] enhancer-trap line, C161, in conjunction with the UAS-lacZ reporter construct to visualize the central projections of a defined set of thoracic and abdominal sensory neurons in a disconnected (disco) mutant background [10].
• The defects are comparable to those previously described for larval photoreceptor and adult retinular cells in disco mutants and extend the known effects of this mutation [10].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of disco

• We have begun to explore the role of disco in the formation of the nervous system by examining the distribution of disco mRNA and protein in embryos and third instar larvae using in situ hybridization and antibody staining respectively [11].

References