Leveraging the withered tail tip phenotype in to identify proteins that influence membrane properties.

The properties of cellular membranes are critical for most cellular functions and are influenced by several parameters including phospholipid composition, integral and peripheral membrane proteins, and environmental conditions such as temperature. We previously showed that the and mutants have a defect in membrane homeostasis and exhibit several distinct phenotypes, including a characteristic tail tip defect and cold intolerance. In the present study we report that screening for novel mutants with these 2 defects can lead to the identification of genes that are important contributors to membrane properties. In particular we isolated 3 novel alleles of , the homolog of βH spectrin, and 2 novel alleles of , which encodes the homolog of the AP2 μ subunit. We also show that and act on membrane properties in pathways distinct from that of and .