rolsXX117/Df(3L)BK9 stage 12 embryos show defects in visceral longitudinal muscle fusion: unfused myoblasts are observed located in the interstitium between the somatic and visceral mesoderm.
rolsXX117 mutants display midgut chambering defects at late stages of embryogenesis.
rolsXX117/Df(3L)BK9 transheterozygote embryos display defects in the fusion of longitudinal visceral muscle founder cells but the migration of the founder cells is unaffected. The fusion-defective phenotype is most severe in the anterior part of the gut, which is covered mostly in just mononucleated muscles at the end of embryogenesis.
Initial determination, budding and elongation of Malpighian tubules during stage 13-14 is normal in rolsXX117 homozygous embryos. However rearrangement of tubule cells to produce elongated, 2 cell wide tubules is delayed (from stage 15 to stage 16-17) and partially disrupted. Tubule migration is defective from stage 15. The anterior tubules appear to follow a random path through the body cavity, following a path that doubles back on itself. At best one of the anterior tubules is able to reach the anterior abdomen, whereas the other one remains in the middle of the embryo.
Mutant embryos show defects in myoblast fusion.
