Mild mutations in the pan neural gene prospero affect male-specific behaviour in Drosophila melanogaster

The fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster is one of the most appropriate model organisms to study the genetics of behaviour. Here, we focus on prospero (pros), a key gene for the development of the nervous system which specifies multiple aspects from the early formation of the embryonic central nervous system to the formation of larval and adult sensory organs. We studied the effects on locomotion, courtship and mating behaviour of three mild pros mutations. These newly isolated pros mutations were induced after the incomplete excision of a transposable genomic element that, before excision, caused a lethal phenotype during larval development. Strikingly, these mutant strains, but not the strains with a clean excision, produced a high frequency of heterozygous flies, after more than 50 generations in the lab. We investigated the factors that could decrease the fitness of homozygotes relatively to heterozygous pros mutant flies. Flies of both genotypes had slightly different levels of fertility. More strikingly, homozygous mutant males had a lower sexual activity than heterozygous males and failed to mate in a competitive situation. No similar effect was detected in mutant females. These findings suggest that mild mutations in pros did not alter vital functions during development but drastically changed adult male behaviour and reproductive fitness.