Gut-specific transcriptional regulatory elements of the carboxypeptidase gene are conserved between black flies and Drosophila.
Millions of people die every year in the tropical world from diseases transmitted by hematophagous insects. Failure of conventional containment measures emphasizes the need for additional approaches, such as transformation of vector insects with genes that restrict vectorial capacity. The availability of an efficient promoter to drive foreign genes in transgenic insects is a necessary tool to test the feasibility of such approach. Here we characterize the putative promoter region of a black fly midgut carboxypeptidase gene and show that these sequences correctly direct the expression of a beta-glucuronidase reporter in Drosophila melanogaster. By histochemical staining and mRNA analysis, we found that the gene is expressed strongly and gut-specifically in the transgenic Drosophila. This gut-specific black fly carboxypeptidase promoter provides a valuable tool for the study of disease vectors.
Xiong
B
B
Department of Genetics, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106-4955, USA.
Jacobs-Lorena
M
M
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002268:Carboxypeptidases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017931:DNA Primers; D004064:Digestive System / Q000201:enzymology; D004175:Diptera / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D004330:Drosophila / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D017344:Genes, Insect; D005966:Glucuronidase / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D017931:DNA Primers; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D004247:DNA; D005966:Glucuronidase; D002268:Carboxypeptidases