Fig. 2: Knocking down a mitochondria-associated protein, Dosmit, results in significant differences in mitochondrial size and shape.

a–d Western blots highlighting expression levels of mitochondrial proteins: a Marf, b Opa1, c Drp1, and d Fis1. e Confocal microscopy of mitochondria in control and Dosmit-knockdown (KD) flies, highlighting the size and shape of mitochondria. Scale bar: 10 μm. f Mitochondrial size in control and Dosmit-knockdown flies (mean ± SD). N = 126 and 144 from left to right bars. Statistical test: Two-tailed Mann–Whitney U-test (****p < 0.0001). g Immunofluorescent staining of muscles of wild-type flies: ATP5A (green) in the inner membrane of mitochondria; F-actin (blue) in muscle fibers, between which oval-shaped mitochondria are aligned; and Dosmit (red) localized to mitochondria. Scale bar: 10 μm. h Western blotting of flight-muscle tissue homogenates indicating the presence of Dosmit protein in the mitochondrial fraction only (M, mitochondrial fraction; C, cytosolic fraction; tubulin: cytosolic marker; Dosmit*: Dosmit dimer). i Western blotting of flight-muscle testing the presence/absence of Dosmit protein in tissue homogenates from control and homozygous Dosmit-EP mutant flies (GAPDH: loading control). j Confocal microscopy of mitochondria in the flight muscles of control and homozygous Dosmit-EP flies. Color panels are confocal microscopy images; gray-scale panels are TEM images. Scale bar of fluorescence images: 10 μm; scale bar of TEM images: 1 μm. k Size (mean ± SD) of mitochondria in flight-muscle of wild-type and Dosmit-EP flies. N = 91 and 131 from left to right bars. Statistical test: Two-tailed Mann–Whitney U-test (****p < 0.0001). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.