title: Structural organization and diversification of Y-linked sequences comprising Su(Ste) genes in Drosophila melanogaster.
abstract: Expression of the X-linked repeated Stellate (Ste) genes, which code for a protein with 38% similarity to the beta-subunit of casein kinase II, is suppressed by the Su(Ste) locus on the Y chromosome. The structure and evolution of the Y-linked repeats in the region of the Su(Ste) locus were studied. The 2800 bp repeats consist of three main elements: the region of homology to the Ste genes, an adjacent AT-rich, Y-specific segment, and mobile element 1360 inserted in the Ste sequence. Amplification of repeats was followed by point mutations, deletions, and insertions of mobile elements. DNA sequencing shows that these repeats may be considered as Ste pseudogenes or as damaged variants of a putative gene(s) encoding a protein quite different from the Ste protein as a result of an alternative splicing pattern. A comparison of 5 variants of the Y-Su(Ste) repeats shows a number of recombination events between amplified and diverged sequences that could be due to either multiple unequal mitotic sister-chromatid exchanges or to gene conversion. It is a first demonstration on a molecular level of these processes occurring in heterochromatic non-rDNA tandemly organized sequences in an eukaryotic genome.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Genetics, Kurchatov Square, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Balakireva
authors.lastname: Shevelyov YuYa
authors.forename: D I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Nurminsky
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Livak
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Gvozdev
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics*; D005784:Gene Amplification / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000235:genetics*; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D011544:Pseudogenes / Q000235:genetics*; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014960:X Chromosome; D014998:Y Chromosome
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements