Nlg4LL01874 mutant flies show significantly less total night sleep time and longer sleep onset latency, compared with control flies. Compared with wild-type, these mutants exhibit more night sleep episodes, with markedly shorter durations, reflecting poorly consolidated night sleep in Nlg4LL01874 mutants. Similar results are seen in Nlg4LL01874/Nlg4del transheterozygotes and Nlg4LL01874/Df(3R)BSC516 and Nlg4LL01874/Df(3R)BSC808 flies.
Large ventral clock neurons (l-LNvs) in Nlg4LL01874 mutant flies show similar electrophysiological properties as those from wild-type flies during the day, with tonic spontaneous AP firing and frequent spike bursts. l-LNvs in Nlg4LL01874 mutants are hyper-activated at night.
In Nlg4LL01874 mutant flies, l-LNv dendrite branches are distributed in a disordered fashion. Nlg4LL01874 mutant flies have a fewer varicosities in the optic lobe compared with wild-type flies.
Nlg4LL01874 has abnormal sleep phenotype, suppressible by RdlMD-RR
The introduction of a RdlR-VL background successfully restores night sleep in Nlg4LL01874 mutants, indicating that the sleep defects observed in Nlg4LL01874 mutants are due to impaired GABA transmission.
Nlg4LL01874 is rescued by Nlg4UAS.cLa/Scer\GAL4P2.4.Pdf
Nlg4LL01874 is rescued by Scer\GAL4dimm-929/Nlg4UAS.cLa
Nlg4LL01874 is not rescued by Scer\GAL4104Y/Nlg4UAS.cLa
Nlg4LL01874 is not rescued by Nlg4UAS.cLa/Scer\GAL4GMR.PF
Sleep defects, especially those in early evening sleep, in Nlg4LL01874 mutants, are restored through expression of Nlg4Scer\UAS.cLa in l-LNvs using Scer\GAL4P2.4.Pdf or Scer\GAL4dimm-929. However, expression in the fan-shaped body neurons (under the control of Scer\GAL4104Y) or under the control of Scer\GAL4GMR.PF fails to rescue sleep defects in Nlg4LL01874 mutants.