Protein phosphatase 1-deficient mutant Drosophila is affected in habituation and associative learning

The learning and memory of Drosophila melanogaster strains carrying the Su-var(3)6(01) mutation, which is known to affect the structural gene of a protein phosphatase 1 isoenzyme, PP1(87B), were studied in various behavioral paradigms. Three lines of Drosophila comprising the Su-var(3)6(01) mutation in different genetic backgrounds were shown to have diminished protein phosphatase 1 activity and behavioral anomalies. Associative olfactory learning and visual conditioning were impaired. Olfactory acuity for the odorants used and response to electric shock were largely unchanged in the mutant lines. The motility and flight activity of the mutants were reduced. Habituation of the landing response, a nonassociative learning process, was more pronounced in heterozygotes of the mutants than in the wild-type control strains. Taken together with earlier data, the results indicate that protein phosphatase PP1(87B), while affecting several cellular processes, is also part of the biochemical machinery of various forms of neuromodulation in Drosophila.