Rediscovery and further characterization of the aeroplane (ae) wing posture mutation in Drosophila melanogaster

In 1931, Theodore Quelprud characterized a novel spontaneous mutation in Dr osophila melanogaster, which was named aeroplane (ae) based on its abnormal wing posture. Although the characterization of the original ne locus was m inimal, it is very likely that another allele of this extinct mutation has now been identified. aeroplane-like (ae-l) was isolated as a by-product of a transformation experiment. The apparent wing paralysis is not caused by a ny obvious abnormalities in the thorax, wing, indirect flight muscles or di rect flight muscles. Classical genetic complementation analyses of ae-l wit h other genes in the region suggest that it represents an allele of a novel locus. Unexpectedly, a molecular examination revealed that the physical le sion identified in the ae-l mutant is exceptionally close to the homeotic g ene tenshirt (tsh) and, indeed, may represent an unusual allele of teashirt .