Evidence for a new type of complementation among the cin, lxd and ma-l loci in Drosophila melanogaster.

A phenotypic effect of the lxd locus in the expression of the cin and ma-l gene products has been described. Flies which are genotypically lxd have normal eye pigments, but maternally affected cin; lxd or ma-l; lxd flies are characterized by mutant eyes which are indistinguishable from those observed in ma-l or ry mutant strains. Furthermore, under ocnditions where there is only partial complementation at the ma-l locus, the presence of the lxd gene is sufficient to prevent normal eye pigmentation. The possibility that these post translational interactions of the cin, lxd, and ma-l loci may prove useful in the isolation of additional loci affecting XDH synthesis is discussed.