title: A retrotransposon 412 insertion within an exon of the Drosophila melanogaster vermilion gene is spliced from the precursor RNA.
abstract: Three alleles of the Drosophila melanogaster vermilion (v) gene are suppressed by recessive mutations at the suppressor of sable [su(s)], gene. Previous work has established that these alleles have identical insertions of the 412 retrotransposon in the 5'-untranslated region of the gene. Despite the transposon insertion in an exon, v mutants accumulate trace amounts of apparently wild-type-sized transcripts in a su(s)+ background, and the level of v transcript accumulation is increased by su(s) mutations. Here, we have characterized transcripts from a suppressible v mutant in both su(s)+ and su(s)- backgrounds by S1 nuclease protection experiments and sequence analysis of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) generated cDNA clones. We find that transposon sequences are imprecisely eliminated from v mutant transcripts by splicing at donor and acceptor sites located near the ends of the 412 retrotransposon. Four different 5' donor sites are alternatively spliced to a single 3' acceptor site. The implications of this finding are discussed in relation to possible functions of the su(s)+ gene product.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599-3280.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Fridell
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Pret
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Searles
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics*; D005091:Exons; D005796:Genes; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012322:RNA Precursors / Q000235:genetics*; D012326:RNA Splicing; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D013489:Suppression, Genetic; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D012322:RNA Precursors