Subject: fly base 93E entries Hi Michael, I've looked through the relevant fly base entries at 93E and here is some information and corrections: 1) C15: C15 is identical to 93Bal and 311. The reference for 311 is: Dear, T.N. and Rabbitts, T.H.: A Drosophila melanogaster homologue of the T-cell oncogene Hox11 localises to a cluster of homeobox genes. Gene 141, 225-229 (1994). Note that the speculations in these paper on the mesodermal function of this gene are wrong. Our in situ and antibody stainings show that it is expressed in amnioserosa cells, from cellularized blastoderm until the amnioserosa degenerates in late embryogenesis. From stage 11 on, there is also expression in small, segmentally repeated clusters of neurons of the CNS and in sensory cells of the Keilin's organs and of the antenno-maxillary complex. The mRNA is 2.0 kb and is mainly expressed in 8-24h old embryos and in pupae. The gene maps ~45 kb distally to S59/NK1. 2) tinman: Please add our paper to the references: Azpiazu, N. and Frasch, M.: tinman and bagpipe: two homeo box genes that determine cell fates in the dorsal mesoderm of Drosophila. Genes Dev. 7, 1325-1340 (1993). 3) prd9 This is identical to S59/NK1 4) bagpipe: First a complaint: The gene symbol for bagpipe in the fly base was changed into bgp, whereas in our original paper, and meanwhile in several others, it was named bap. To avoid confusions, I think fly base shouldn't make these arbitrary decisions without consulting the authors. The gene that has been dubbed bap (beta adaptin) by fly base was published a year after bagpipe, and to my knowledge, no three-letter abbreviation was used in that paper. Therefore, I feel strongly that bagpipe should be renamed into bap in the flybase entry, and that fly base should accept the names as they appear in the first publication, unless there is a compelling reason for a change, such as duplications etc. Phenotypic information: During stages 10-11, bap is expressed in 11 segmentally repeated patches of dorsolateral mesodermal cells which are the primordial cells of the midgut visceral mesoderm. From stage 11 onwards it is also expressed in the foregut and hindgut visceral mesoderm and in some heart precursors, and the expression in the midgut visceral mesoderm disappears. The EMS allele bap208 causes a severe reduction in the formation of the visceral musculature of the midgut. Musculature of the foregut, hindgut, and the heart appear normal. Molecular biology data: The protein is 382 amino acids (All these data are from Azpiazu and Frasch, 1993) Reference FBrf0051845 : Delete this entry, because these data are about C15. Reference FBrf0050865 : delete the possible identity with prd9 (see above) 5) NK2: I have no information on NK2 so please delete 'Frasch, personal communication'. Best regards, Manfred
