A 1.2kb PstI fragment from the pdm2 cDNA is expressed from an Hsp83 promoter. This fragment lacks usual ATG codon, and if the available internal ATG is used for initiation the resulting product would lack 277 amino acids from the N terminus. Only 8 amino acids upstream of the POU-specific domain will be included in the truncated protein.
Embryos carrying two copies of pdm2Δmiti.Hsp83 usually show deletions in abdominal segment 2 and sometimes defects in abdominal segment 6 and the head. Reducing the dose of pdm2+ in the presence of a single copy of pdm2Δmiti.Hsp83 reveals similar phenotypes. The transgene interferes with the GMC1 to RP2/sib lineage, and RP2 neurons are missing from the CNS of mutant embryos.