gammaTub23C interacts genetically with brahma chromatin-remodeling complexes in Drosophila melanogaster.

The brahma gene encodes the catalytic subunit of the Drosophila melanogaster BRM chromatin-remodeling complexes. Screening for mutations that interact with brahma, we isolated the dominant-negative Pearl-2 allele of gammaTub23C. gammaTub23C encodes one of the two gamma-tubulin isoforms in Drosophila and is essential for zygotic viability and normal adult patterning. gamma-Tubulin is a subunit of microtubule organizer complexes. We show that mutations in lethal (1) discs degenerate 4, which encodes the Grip91 subunit of microtubule organizer complexes, suppress the recessive lethality and the imaginal phenotypes caused by gammaTub23C mutations. The genetic interactions between gammaTub23C and chromatin-remodeling mutations suggest that gamma-tubulin might have a role in regulating gene expression.