High impact information on rost

• To elucidate the function of rolling stone for myoblast fusion, we applied a knock-out strategy [1].
• Thus, we postulate a central role of rolling stone for the fusion process within the somatic mesoderm [1].
• In homozygous rolling stone embryos, the fusion of myoblasts to syncytial myotubes is diminished [1].
• The mesodermal expression of rolling stone (rost) is essential for myoblast fusion in Drosophila and encodes a potential transmembrane protein [1].
• We suggest that rolling stone is a member of a group of genes that are necessary for the fusion process during myogenesis [1].

Biological context of rost

• The expression of an antisense rolling stone transcript specifically within the mesoderm of wild-type embryos results in fusion defects of myoblasts, proving that the rolling stone expression in the mesoderm is responsible for the rolling stone phenotype [1].
• These myoblasts occur at positions corresponding to the locations of dorsal, ventral and pleural muscles, showing that the gene rolling stone is involved in cell fusion, a process that is independent of cell migration in these mutants [2].

References