title: Regulatory elements in the promoter of the vitelline membrane gene VM32E of Drosophila melanogaster direct gene expression in distinct domains of the follicular epithelium.
abstract: The Drosophila vitelline membrane protein gene VM32E is expressed according to a precise temporal and spatial program in the follicle cells. Results from germ line transformation experiments using different fragments of the -465/-39 VM32E region fused to the hsp/lacZ reporter gene revealed that the region -348/-39 is sufficient to confer the wild-type expression pattern. Within this segment, distinct cis-regulatory elements control VM32E expression in ventral and dorsal follicle cells. The region between -135/-113 is essential for expression of the VM32E gene in the ventral columnar follicle cells. Expression in the dorsal domain requires the two regions -348/-254 and -118/-39. Furthermore, the region -253/-119 appears to contain a negative element that represses gene activity in anterior centripetal cells. We suggest that the expression of the VM32E gene throughout the follicular epithelium is controlled by specific cis-regulatory elements acting in distinct spatial domains and following a precise developmental program.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica Sperimentale, Università di Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cavaliere
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spanò
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Andrenacci
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cortesi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gargiulo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics*; D004527:Egg Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D017344:Genes, Insect; D005809:Genes, Regulator; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D014817:Vitelline Membrane
chemical_list: D004527:Egg Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins