and histamine in heads (Borycz et al., 2008; Sitaraman et al., 2008), are resistant to sedation by volatile anesthetic gases (Campbell and Nash, 2001) and have poor place memory (Diegelmann et al., 2006). Expression of w is found in fly heads from which eye pigment cells have been genetically ablated (Campbell and Nash, 2001), supporting a role for w in anesthetic sensitivity and possibly other behaviors that are independent of vision. Additionally, mini-w over-expression induces male-male courtship behavior in flies (Anaka et al., 2008; Hing and Carlson, 1996; Nilsson et al., 2000; Zhang and Odenwald, 1995) and ethanol-induced male-male courtship behavior requires expression of w or mini-w (Lee et al., 2008). Expression of w and mini-w can therefore have significant effects on neurochemistry and behavior in Drosophila, possibly via a role in transport of guanine or cGMP and synthesis of nitric oxide, dopamine, serotonin or histamine (Borycz et al., 2008; Campbell and Nash, 2001; Evans et al., 2008; Sitaraman et al., 2008).
