CONDITIONAL RESCUE OF THE DUNCE LEARNING MEMORY AND FEMALE FERTILITY DEFECTS WITH DROSOPHILA OR RAT TRANSGENES

Mutations in the Drosophila dunce gene, the structural gene for a cAMP -specific phosphodiesterase (PDE), disrupt normal learning and memory and lead to female sterility. Our experiments address a long-standing question in the genetic dissection of learning and memory of whether d nc is involved in physiological processes underlying learning, Conditi onal expression of dunce transgenes in dnc adults shortly before train ing significantly improves learning over nontransgenic controls, Remar kably, behavioral rescue was also observed after induction of a transg ene carrying a rat counterpart of dunce, Induction of the transgenes i n adult dnc females confers partial rescue of the female sterility phe notype. These data are consistent with a major physiological requireme nt for the gene's activity in the learning process and show that a rat counterpart can substitute functionally for the Drosophila gene.