FLP-mediated recombination between fruF-5'half and fruX-3'half has produced a fru gene in which the male specific splice donor site of the S-exon has been mutated (GTAAGC -> CTGACC) to prevent male specific splicing of fru transcripts. Coding potential of the S exon is unaffected. No marker genes or vector sequence remain apart from an FRT site about 0.6 Kb 3' of the mutated S-exon.
fruΔA.T:Hsap\MYC/fruF, fruB1/fruF, fruB2/fruF, fruC1/fruF, fruC2/fruF and fruC3/fruF males show significantly reduced copulation success compared to controls in single-pair courtship assays.
fruB2/fruF males show courtship song defects: the interpulse interval of the pulse song is longer and more varied than normal. Sine song and the carrier frequency of pulse song are normal.
fruC1/fruF males show courtship song defects: sine song is almost completely absent, the interpulse interval of the pulse song is longer and more varied than normal, the carrier frequency of pulse song is highly variable and in the dark, pulse song is dramatically reduced.
fruΔA.T:Hsap\MYC/fruF males show courtship song defects: the interpulse interval of the pulse song is longer and more varied than normal, the carrier frequency of sine song is increased and the carrier frequency of pulse song is reduced.
fruF males show a significant decrease in the number of pIP10, dPR1, vPR1, vPR6, aDT2/mAL, aSP1 and aSP2 neuronal cells per hemisphere compared to fru[+] males. The aDT2, aSP4 and vAB3 neurons show an apparently complete transformation to female-like morphology in these males.
fruΔA.T:Hsap\MYC/fruF males show no significant change in the number of pMP4/P1, pIP10, dPR1, vPR1, vPR6, aDT2/mAL, aSP1 and aSP2 neuronal cells per hemisphere compared to fru[+] males.
fruB2/fruF males show a significant decrease in the number of aDT2/mAL neuronal cells per hemisphere compared to fru[+] males, but no significant change in the number of pMP4/P1, pIP10, dPR1, vPR1, vPR6, aSP1 or aSP2 neuronal cells per hemisphere.
fruC1/fruF males show a significant decrease in the number of vPR6 and aDT2/mAL neuronal cells per hemisphere compared to fru[+] males, but no significant change in the number of pMP4/P1, pIP10, dPR1, vPR1, aSP1 or aSP2 neuronal cells per hemisphere. The aDT2, aSP4 and vAB3 neurons show female-like arborisations in these males.
In fruF/fru4-40 males the post-embryonic Ilp7 neurons in the posterior adult ventral nerve cord are feminised; the normally female-specific ventral subset of 3-4 post-embryonic Ilp7 neurons is present adjacent to the usual embryonic Ilp7 neurons. The dorsal cluster of post-embryonic Ilp7 neurons seen in both males and females is retained but, as in females, no longer expresses serotonin.
The male specific 'muscle of lawrence' is absent in fruF/fru4-40 males. fruF/fru4-40 males fail to court females. This does not change in the presence of wild-type males, whom they fail to compete with in competition for copulation with a wild-type virgin female. fru3/fru4-40 males show a small but significant increase in courtship of other males compared to wild-type. Unlike wild-type males these mutant males form male mating chains.
The sexual dimorphism of the volumes of the DA1, VA1v and VL2a antennal glomeruli is eliminated in fruF mutant animals.
fru[+]/fruF is a non-enhancer of abnormal courtship behavior | male phenotype of Scer\GAL4elav.PLu, traUAS.cFa
fru[+]/fruF is a non-suppressor of abnormal courtship behavior | male phenotype of Scer\GAL4elav.PLu, traUAS.cFa
The reduction in courtship behaviour seen in traScer\UAS.cFa; Scer\GAL4elav.PLu males is unaffected by fruF/+.
Photoactivation of fru-expressing neurons in headless males expressing Rnor\P2rx2Scer\UAS.cLa under the control of Scer\GAL4fru-GAL4 in a fruF/fruGAL4 background produces courtship songs with sine and pulse songs, but the acoustic characteristics of these songs show broad bimodal distributions, with peaks near the typical male and female modes, suggesting that these animals represent a mixed population.