Flightin maintains myofilament lattice organization required for optimal flight power and courtship song quality in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: The indirect flight muscles (IFMs) of Drosophila and other insects with asynchronous flight muscles are characterized by a crystalline myofilament lattice structure. The high-order lattice regularity is considered an adaptation for enhanced power output, but supporting evidence for this claim is lacking. We show that IFMs from transgenic flies expressing flightin with a deletion of its poorly conserved N-terminal domain (fln^ΔN62 ) have reduced inter-thick filament spacing and a less regular lattice. This resulted in a decrease in flight ability by 33% and in skinned fibre oscillatory power output by 57%, but had no effect on wingbeat frequency or frequency of maximum power output, suggesting that the underlying actomyosin kinetics is not affected and that the fligh

SUBMITTER: Chakravorty S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5443953 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature