Passover: a gene required for synaptic connectivity in the giant fiber system of Drosophila

Passover (Pas) flies fail to jump in response to a light-off stimulus. The mutation disrupts specific synapses of the giant fibers (GFs), command neurons for this response. Pas was cloned from a P element-induced allele. The cDNA encodes a putative membrane protein of 361 amino acids. Null, hypomorphic, and dominant alleles were sequenced. In the adult central nervous system, and in the pupa during GF synapse formation, Pas is consistently expressed in the GF and in a large thoracic cell in the location of its postsynaptic targets. Pas establishes a new gene family. The Drosophila ogre protein, required for postembryonic neuroblast development, is 47% identical; the C. elegans Unc-7 protein, which when mutated alters the connectivity of a few neurons, is 33% identical.