Point mutations in the Drosophila hairy gene demonstrate in vivo requirements for basic, helix-loop-helix, and WRPW domains.
The Drosophila pair-rule gene, hairy (h), encodes a nuclear basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) protein that regulates embryonic segmentation and adult bristle patterning. In both cases, the h protein behaves as a transcriptional repressor. In this study, we determined the molecular nature of 12 h alleles. One mutation maps within the HLH domain, consistent with h function requiring homodimerization or heterodimerization with other HLH proteins. A second mutation lies in the basic domain, suggesting that DNA binding is required for h activity. Several mutations show that the h C terminus, in particular the WRPW domain, is also required for h activity, perhaps by interacting with other proteins to mediate transcriptional repression. We show that the h protein in Drosophila virilis closely resembles that in D. melanogaster and includes completely conserved bHLH and WRPW domains.
Wainwright
S M
SM
Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, England.
Ish-Horowicz
D
D
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005796:Genes; D007301:Insect Hormones / Q000502:physiology*; D019476:Insect Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013045:Species Specificity; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology*
D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D007301:Insect Hormones; D019476:Insect Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C489235:hairy protein, Drosophila; C061841:hairy protein, insect