Inactivation of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase structural gene of Drosophila melanogaster caused by translocation to heterochromatin

Antagonistic regulation of the Drosophila PCNA gene promoter by DREF and Cut

The gene promoter of Drosophila proliferating cell nuclear antigen (dPCNA) contains several transcriptional regulatory elements, such as upstream regulatory element (URE), DNA replication-related element (DRE, 5'-TATCGATA), and E2F recognition sites. In the present study, a yeast one-hybrid screen using three tandem repeats of DRE in dPCNA promoter as the bait allowed isolation of a cDNA encoding Cut, a Drosophila homolog of mammalian CCAAT-displacement protein (CDP)/Cux. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that Cut bound to both DRE and the sequence 5'-AATCAAAC in URE, with much higher affinity to the former. Measurement of dPCNA promoter activity by transient luciferase expression assays in Drosophila S2 cells after an RNA interference for Cut or DREF showed DREF activates the dPCNA promoter while Cut functions as a repressor. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays in the presence or absence of 20-hydroxyecdysone further showed both DREF and Cut proteins to be localized in the genomic region containing the dPCNA promoter in S2 cells, especially in the Cut case upon induction of differentiation. These results indicate that Cut functions as a transcriptional repressor of dPCNA gene by binding to the promoter region in the differentiated state, while DREF binds to DRE to promote expression of dPCNA during cell proliferation.

A genetic and molecular analysis of P-induced mutations at the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase locus in Drosophila melanogaster

We examined P factor induced mutations of the Zw gene of Drosophila melanogaster in order to learn more about the site specificity of such mutations. Approximately 70,000 chromosomes were screened using a powerful positive selection scheme. As only two mutants were discovered, Zw is a "cold spot" for transposable element insertion. One mutation involved a complex P element associated chromosomal rearrangement which was used to define the orientation of the gene with respect to the centromere of the X chromosome. The second mutation was either a simple, non-dysgenically induced point mutation or a very unstable insertion.

Fine genetic structure of the 2D3-2F5 region of the X-chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster

97 lethal and semilethal mutations were induced by ethyl methanesulfonate, nitrosomethyl urea and gamma-irradiation in the 2D3-F5 region of the X-chromosome of D. melanogaster. Approximately 1 per cent of the tested X-chromosomes carried a lethal in the 2D3-2F5 region. The mutation frequencies per band or DNA content in the region and the whole X-chromosome are equal. Complementation analysis revealed at least 10 functionally independent essential loci in this region including about 10 bands. The data presented in this study support the one band--one gene hypothesis. The Pgd locus coding for 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD) is mapped in the 2D3 (OR 2D4) band. Isolation of 11 lethal or semilethal point mutations with null or reduced 6PGD activity shows that the Pgd locus is a vital one.