We are also engaged in an extensive genetic screen for new loci that are important for synaptic function the recent completion of the sequencing of the Drosophila genome greatly facilitates the molecular characterization of any newly identified genes. These projects have also involved us in questions of membrane trafficking outside the nervous system, particularly in early embryos, and in the mechanisms of axonal transport of organelles. The functional consequences have been investigated in cardiac myocytes, vascular smooth muscle cells, and hippocampal pyramidal cells. By using this genetic approach we can not only identify the molecular nature of in vivo currents and obtain an appreciation of the biophysical role of the channel in the single cell, but can also examine physiology at the level of intact organs and indeed the entire organism. These studies have also involved the lab in an examination of the control of cortical blood flow and in the pathogenesis of cleft palates.
Synaptic transmission persists in synaptotagmin mutants.
The effect on synaptic physiology of synaptotagmin mutations in Drosophila. The synaptic protein syntaxin1 is required for cellularization of Drosophila embryos. Distinct requirements for evoked and spontaneous release of neurotransmitter are revealed by mutations in the Drosophila gene, neuronal synaptobrevin. J. Neurosci .