Generation and phenotypic characterization of <i>PPO1</i> and <i>PPO2</i> deletion mutants.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Schematic representation of <i>PPO1</i>^Δ and <i>PPO2</i>^Δ deletions. The gene map was adapted from FlyBase and includes <i>PPO1</i> (top) and <i>PPO2</i> with its neighboring gene <i>CG13743</i> (bottom). The <i>PPO2</i> mutant was generated after the mobilization of the transposable element <i>Mi{ET1}PPO2^MB05593</i> inserted in the 3′ end of <i>PPO2</i>. The imprecise excision deleted a fragment of 5.2 kb including the 3′ non-coding sequence of the neighboring gene <i>CG13743</i>. <i>PPO1</i>^Δ mutant flies were generated by homologous recombination of <i>PPO1</i> with the <i>w</i> gene. The flanking sequences used for recombination (dotted lines) are indicated. (<b>B</b>) Lifespan analysis of unchallenged flies reveals an increased mortality of <i>PPO1</i>^Δ, <i>PPO2</i>^Δ double mutants <i>(***, p</i><0.0005). Each survival curve corresponds to one experiment of 3 samples with 20 flies each. <i>p</i> values were calculated using the Log-rank test.