Compared to sibling heterozygotes, BHD^null/BHD^null larvae are smaller (including reduced size of imaginal discs and brains), survive for a prolonged period of time as larvae, have reduced numbers of mitotic cells, have reduced DNA synthesis, have thin fat bodies with cells that contain vacuoles and shrunken nuclei, and have reduced cell volumes and DNA contents of salivary glands. Compared to sibling heterozygotes, BHD^null/BHD^null larvae become even smaller when on less nutritious (yeast-free) food.

Even under normal feeding conditions, autophagy in the fat bodies is elevated in BHD^null/BHD^null larvae compared to heterozygotes; suppressing autophagy by feeding with an autophagy inhibitor does not restore normal growth or viability.

Growth delay of BHD^null/BHD^null larvae is significantly rescued by yeast-rich or leucine-added food, though mutants still die at the pupal stage; addition of rapamycin (inhibitor of mTOR signaling) suppresses these rescue effects.

BHD^null/BHD^null mutant clones in imaginal discs or eye discs are similar in size and do not show clear cell number differences to wild type, suggesting BHD is not required cell-autonomously.

BHD^null has lethal - all die before end of larval stage | recessive phenotype, suppressible | partially by Hsap\FLCN^UAS.cLa/Scer\GAL4^hs.PU