Mutations in the Drosophila mitochondrial tRNA amidotransferase, bene/gatA, cause growth defects in mitotic and endoreplicating tissues.

Rapid larval growth is essential in the development of most metazoans. In this article, we show that bene, a gene previously identified on the basis of its oogenesis defects, is also required for larval growth and viability. We show that all bene alleles disrupt gatA, which encodes the Drosophila homolog of glutamyl-tRNA(Gln) amidotransferase subunit A (GatA). bene alleles are now referred to as gatA. GatA proteins are highly conserved throughout eukaryotes and many prokaryotes. These enzymes are required for proper translation of the proteins encoded by the mitochondrial genome and by many eubacterial genomes. Mitotic and endoreplicating tissues in Drosophila gatA loss-of-function mutants grow slowly and never achieve wild-type size, and gatA larvae die before pupariation. gatA mutant eye clones exhibit growth and differentiation defects, indicating that gatA expression is required cell autonomously for normal growth. The gatA gene is widely expressed in mitotic and endoreplicating tissues.