Identification of genes that interact with liquid facets

The protein Liquid facets (Lqf) promotes endocytosis at the plasma membrane1. Lqf activity is required for proper Notch signaling, likely through facilitating the endocytosis of Notch ligand by indirectly linking ligand to clathrin. A genetic modifier screen to identify genes that interact with lqf was performed by a previous graduate student. Genes identified in the screen might provide new insights into how Lqf promotes endocytosis or how Notch signaling is regulated. In this work, I performed genetic mapping techniques to identify the genes mutated in each complementation group of the screen. I identified the gene mutated in complementation group 6 as mitochondrial alanyl tRNA synthetase (Aats-ala-m). tRNA synthetases link a tRNA to its cognate amino acid during translation. Mitochondrial tRNA synthetases function in the mitochondria in translation. Aats-ala-m genetically interacts with lqf, suggesting the two genes function in the same pathway. In this work, I also identified chromosomal regions where the genes mutated in complementation groups 1,2, and 9 are located.