The 5' untranslated region of the I factor, a long interspersed nuclear element-like retrotransposon of Drosophila melanogaster, contains an internal promoter and sequences that regulate expression.
The I-R system of hybrid dysgenesis in Drosophila melanogaster is controlled by a long interspersed nuclear element-like retroposon, the I factor. Transposition of the I factor occurs at a high frequency only in the ovaries of females produced by crossing males of inducer strains that contain functional I factors with females of reactive strains that lack them. In this study, the 5' untranslated region of the I factor was joined to the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene, and activity was assayed in transfected D. melanogaster tissue culture cells and transformed flies. The results have identified a promoter that lies within the first 186 pb of the I factor. Deletion analysis shows that nucleotides +1 to +40 are sufficient for high promoter activity and accurate transcription initiation. This region contains sequences that are found in a class of RNA polymerase II promoters that lack both a TATA box and CpG-rich motifs. In transformed flies, high levels of expression from nucleotides +1 to +186 are confined to the ovaries of reactive females, suggesting that the promoter is involved in the tissue and cytotype specificity of transposition.
Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
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McLean
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Bucheton
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Finnegan
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D004247:DNA; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D007438:Introns; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D014170:Transformation, Genetic
D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004247:DNA