The role of CG11148 in embryogenesis and wing patterning in Drosophila

In this poster, we report the gene expression and function of gene CG11148. We sought to explore the function of the gene annotated by us as a part of Genomics Education Partnership. Our studies show that CG11148 is expressed ubiquitously in embryos early in development and is upregulated around stage 14 in the visceral mesoderm. Hypomorphic mutants for CG11148 showed embryonic defects. About 20% of the mutant embryos showed defects in salivary gland morphogenesis resulting in a curvature of the gland. There were visceral mesoderm defects observed in a similar percentage of embryos. It is therefore possible that the salivary gland migration defects are related to the defects in the formation of the visceral mesoderm. We are currently evaluating the embryonic defects in flies that carry a deficiency for CG11148 and in flies that are transheterozygous for the deficiency and the hypomorphic allele. In addition, we observed wing patterning defects in adult flies. Over 70% of the CG11148 mutant flies show incomplete formation of the L4 wing vein. Furthermore, the bristles on the wings show planar polarity defects. The wing vein defects are also observed in the deficiency and transheterozygous lines. We are currently investigating the expression pattern of CG11148 in the larval tissues and the genetic interactions between CG11148 and known wing patterning pathways.