The Drosophila ninaC locus encodes two photoreceptor cell specific proteins with domains homologous to protein kinases and the myosin heavy chain head

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has been extensively used to identify genes required for photoreceptor cell function. We show that the ninaC gene, originally isolated as a Drosophila visual mutation with an electrophysiological phenotype, encodes two novel cytoskeletal proteins. We identified the DNA sequences encoding the ninaC gene by rescuing the electrophysiological phenotype using P-element-mediated germ line transformation. The ninaC locus is expressed as two extensively overlapping mRNAs encoding proteins of 1135 and 1501 amino acids. Both proteins contain a putative protein kinase domain joined to a domain homologous to the head region of the myosin heavy chain and are spatially restricted to photoreceptor cells.