title: Molecular characterization of the Drosophila vermilion locus and its suppressible alleles.
abstract: We have cloned vermilion (v), one of the genes required for brown eye pigment synthesis in Drosophila, using a mutant (vH2a) "tagged" with the transposon P factor. Mutations that disrupt v gene expression are clustered within approximately 2 kilobases of DNA. A 1.4-kilobase transcript, homologous to this same region, is present in v+ RNA but absent in RNA from several v mutants. The spontaneous v alleles that are suppressed by the suppressor of sable [su(s)] are apparently identical insertions of 412, a copia-like transposable element. Preliminary evidence suggests that su(s)-suppressible alleles at other loci may also be 412 insertions.
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics*; D005123:Eye; D005809:Genes, Regulator; D009154:Mutation; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010858:Pigmentation; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements