Sex-specific processing of the Drosophila exuperantia transcript is regulated in male germ cells by the tra-2 gene.
The Drosophila exuperantia (exu) gene encodes overlapping sex-specific, germline-dependent mRNAs. In this work, the structural differences between these sex-specific exu mRNAs were determined by sequence analysis of 9 ovary and 10 testis cDNAs. The transformer 2 (tra-2) gene functions in sex determination of female somatic cells through its role in regulating female-specific splicing of doublesex (dsx) RNA. We report here that tra-2 is required in male germ cells for efficient male-specific processing of exu RNA; in the absence of tra-2, X/Y males produce a new mRNA which is processed at its 3' end so that it contains sequences normally specific to the female 3' untranslated region. Although the processing event that requires tra-2 occurs in an untranslated region of the exu transcript, the isolation and characterization of a male-specific exu allele which deletes male 3' untranslated sequence indicate that this processing is biologically significant.
Hazelrigg
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Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027.
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D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics*; D004527:Egg Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D015723:Gene Library; D006720:Homozygote; D008297:Male; D010053:Ovary / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000378:metabolism*; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004527:Egg Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins; C072067:exu protein, Drosophila; C066174:tra2 protein, Drosophila