bigmax¹/bigmax¹ mutants display near complete pupal lethality.

Mutants die during the pharate adult stage and only a small number of adults are recovered. Mutants show a modest developmental delay when raised on standard fly food.

Mutant larvae fail to survive on a diet with 20% sucrose as the sole nutrient source. The mutant larvae develop with similar kinetics as controls on a high protein, low sugar diet, but as the sucrose concentration is increased, larval development is gradually slowed down, and at higher sucrose levels the larvae fail to pupate. The mutant larvae also show developmental delay in protein-rich food supplemented with either 10% glucose or 10% fructose, and are unable to pupate when raised on pieces of red grape with baker's yeast inoculum.

Mutant larvae show a significant increase in triglyceride species with long fatty acid tails and ceramide levels and a significant decreased in myristoleic acid and lauric acid levels compared to controls. They also show a decrease in total amino acid levels and a dramatic increase in the concentration of urea. Mutant larvae show an increase in hemolymph glucose compared to controls, showing a moderate increase when raised on a 20% yeast diet and a more prominent increase when raised on a 20% yeast, 5% sucrose diet. Mutant larvae show a prominent increase in hemolymph trehalose compared to controls when raised on a 20% yeast diet, with little further effect if they are raised on a 20% yeast, 5% sucrose diet. Total glycogen levels are significantly increased in mutant larvae raised on a 20% yeast, 5% sucrose diet.

bigmax¹ has partially lethal - majority die phenotype, suppressible by Df(2R)ED3636/Pepck1^Δ84

bigmax¹ has lethal | conditional phenotype, suppressible by Aldh-III^UAS.cHa/Scer\GAL4^αTub84B.PL