Approximate extent of the imprecise excision deletion of Thor. (The ambiguity in the endpoints was reported and the mapped boundaries represent the minimal extent of the deletion.)
Imprecise excision of the P{lacW}Thork13517 insertion, deleting sequence between the original insertion site and the first BamHI site.
After 30 days of light/dark cycling, photoreceptors are preserved normally in Thor2 flies.
Thor2 mutant flies, when deprived of all sources of energy die faster than control flies. At 37 hours of starvation, 92% of control flies are alive, whereas only 38% of Thor2 mutant flies survive. This difference is statistically significant. Thor2 mutant flies may have slightly higher fat levels than in wild-type in normal conditions. Triglyceride stores drop more rapidly in Thor2 mutant flies than in wild-type controls. By 24 hours of starvation, the difference in fat content is statistically significant. At 36 hours of starvation, the fat content of Thor2 mutants reaches almost zero, whereas control flies still have a substantial amount of fat left at this stage. The time at which the flies have no fat left coincides with when they start dying. After 30 hours of starvation, control flies have >25% of their original fat content, whereas Thor2 flies have only half as much, indicating an increased burn rate compared to wild-type. Thor2 mutants do not accumulate as much excess fat as wild-type in response to the Tor-inhibitor rapamycin. In conditions of nutrient deprivation, upon addition of rapamycin, the half-life of Thor2 mutants is extended by 43 hours, compared to 55 hours in wild-type. Thor2 mutant flies are comparable in body weight and developmental rate to wild-type flies.
Homozygous flies have no obvious morphological defects.
4 days after infection with S. epidermis only 47% of mutant flies survive, compared to over 80% in wild-type. 4 days after infection with M. roseus, 16% of mutant flies survive as compared to 46% in wild-type.
Thor2, park25 has partially lethal - majority die phenotype, suppressible by Scer\GAL4da.PU/ThorUAS.cMa
Pink1B9, Thor2 has partially lethal - majority live phenotype, suppressible by Scer\GAL4da.PU/ThorUAS.cMa
Thor[+]/Thor2 is an enhancer of visible | adult stage phenotype of Hsap\MAPTUAS.cWa, Scer\GAL4GMR.PF
Thor2, Trpml1 has lethal | pupal stage phenotype
Thor2, park25 has partially lethal - majority die phenotype
Pink1B9, Thor2 has partially lethal - majority live phenotype
Thor[+]/Thor2 is an enhancer of eye phenotype of Hsap\MAPTUAS.cWa, Scer\GAL4GMR.PF
Thor2/Thor2; park25/park25 double mutants are almost completely lethal and Thor2/Thor2; Pink1B9/Pink1B9 double mutants are partially lethal (unlike either viable single mutant or viable single mutants with the other allele heterozygotic), with rare escapers dying soon after eclosion; expression of ThorScer\UAS.cMa driven by Scer\GAL4da.PU suppresses lethality in double mutants.
Thor2 is rescued by ThorUAS.Tag:HA/Scer\GAL4αTub84B.PL
Overexpression of ThorScer\UAS.cTb, under the control of Scer\GAL4αTub84B.PL, restores the wild-type fat burning rate in Thor2 mutants, with flies retaining >25% of their original fat after 30 hours of starvation, as in wild-type.