Antagonizing scalloped with a novel vestigial construct reveals an important role for scalloped in Drosophila melanogaster leg, eye and optic lobe development

Scalloped (SD), a TEA/ATTS-domain-containiiig protein, is required for the proper development of Drosophila melanogaster. Despite being expressed in a variety of tissues, most of the work oil SD has been restricted to understanding its role and function in patterning the adult wing. To gain a better under standing of its role in development, we generated sd(47M) flip-in mitotic clones. The mitotic clones had developmental defects in the leg and eye. Further, by removing the VG domains involved in activation, we created a reagent (VG Delta ACT) that disrupts the ability of SD to form a functional transcription factor complex and produced similar phenotypes to the flip-in mitotic clones. The VG Delta ACT construct also disrupted adult CNS development. Expression of the VG Delta ACT construct in the wing alters the cellular localization of VG and produces a mutant phenotype, indicating that the construct is able to antagonize the normal function of the SD/VG complex. Expression of the protein:protein interaction portion of SD is also able to elicit similar phenotypes, suggesting that SD interacts with other cofactors in the leg, eye, and adult CNS. Furthermore, antagonizing SD in larval tissues results in cell death, indicating that SD may also have a role in cell survival.