title: In vivo transcriptional analysis of the TATA-less promoter of the Drosophila melanogaster vermilion gene.
abstract: Transcriptional regulation of the TATA-less promoter of the Drosophila melanogaster vermilion (v) gene was investigated. Developmental Northern (RNA) blot analysis showed that v transcripts accumulate during late embryo, larval, and adult stages. Sequences that control expression in adults were delineated by analyzing a series of 5' and 3' deletion constructions after germ line transformation. These studies defined two regions, -300 to -600 and -60 to -160, relative to the major transcription start site, as important for maximal levels of expression. Analysis of transformants bearing v-lacZ promoter fusions showed that larval expression is fat body specific and that expression depends on sequences located between +19 and +36 downstream of transcription start site. This downstream element can be functionally replaced by a TATA box in vivo. Furthermore, when added to the wild-type v promoter, a TATA element augments the level of v transcription by three- to fivefold.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599-3280.
authors.forename: Y W
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Fridell
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Searles
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D004247:DNA; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D016385:TATA Box; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014366:Tryptophan Oxygenase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D014366:Tryptophan Oxygenase