title: The inhibitor of DNA replication encoded by the Drosophila gene plutonium is a small, ankyrin repeat protein.
abstract: The plutonium (plu) gene product controls DNA replication early in Drosophila development. plu mutant females lay unfertilized eggs that have undergone extensive DNA synthesis. In fertilized embryos from plu mutant mothers, S-phase is uncoupled from mitosis. The gene is expressed only in ovaries and embryos, null alleles are strict maternal effect mutations, and the phenotype of inappropriate DNA replication is the consequence of loss-of-gene function. plu therefore negatively regulates S-phase at a time in early development when commitment to S-phase does not depend on cyclic transcription. plu encodes a protein with two ankyrin-like repeats, a domain for protein-protein interaction. plu is immediately adjacent to, but distinct from, the PCNA gene.
authors.affiliation: Whitehead Institute, Cambridge, MA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Axton
authors.forename: F L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Shamanski
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Boyd
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Orr-Weaver
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017487:Ankyrins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004261:DNA Replication; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007301:Insect Hormones / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D017487:Ankyrins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D007301:Insect Hormones; C085874:PLU protein, Drosophila; D014157:Transcription Factors