Determinants of Drosophila fushi tarazu mRNA instability.
The fushi tarazu gene is essential for the establishment of the Drosophila embryonic body plan. When first expressed in early embryogenesis, fushi tarazu mRNA is uniformly distributed over most of the embryo. Subsequently, fushi tarazu mRNA expression rapidly evolves into a pattern of seven stripes that encircle the embryo. The instability of fushi tarazu mRNA is probably crucial for attaining this localized pattern of expression. mRNA stability in transgenic embryos was measured by a new method that does not use drugs or external interference. Experiments using hybrid genes that fuse fushi tarazu sequences to those of the stable ribosomal protein A1 mRNA provide evidence for at least two destabilizing elements in the fushi tarazu mRNA, one located within the 5' one-third of the mRNA and the other near the 3' end (termed FIE3 for ftz instability element 3'). The FIE3 lies within a 201-nucleotide sequence just upstream of the polyadenylation signal and can act autonomously to destabilize a heterologous mRNA. Further deletion constructs identified an essential 68-nucleotide element within the FIE3. Lack of homology between this element and other previously identified destabilization sequences suggests that FIE3 contains a novel RNA destabilization element.
Riedl
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Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-4955, USA.
Jacobs-Lorena
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D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D051717:Fushi Tarazu Transcription Factors; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D017344:Genes, Insect; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008954:Models, Biological; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
D017931:DNA Primers; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D051717:Fushi Tarazu Transcription Factors; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C497169:ftz protein, Drosophila