Abstract

The delorean (a gain-­‐of-­‐function mutation) in Drosophila melanogaster is caused by a transposon insertion in the first intron of the Protein kinase N (pkn) gene (Sass, unpublished). Previous studies have established pkn as an evolutionary, conserved essential protein in Drosophila development (Lu and Settleman, 1999, Betson and Settleman, 2007). Here, we study the role of pkn in oogenesis. Using the Dominant Female Sterile – Flipase Recombinant Technique (DFS-­‐FRT) germline clones where generated to quantify the maternal-­‐effect phenotype in germline cells. We establish pkn as a maternal-­‐effect phenotype where females exhibit a significant reduction in egg production and effective sterility. The few eggs produced by delorean females are either not fertilizable or if fertilized, generate embryos that typically fail to complete embryogenesis.