title: Vinculin gene is non-essential in Drosophila melanogaster.
abstract: Vinculin is thought to be an important cytoskeletal protein in the linkage between actin cytoskeleton and integrin transmembrane receptors. We identified Vinculin (Vinc) gene in the X chromosome of D. melanogaster. Drosophila vinculin is highly homologous in its N- and C-terminal domains both to mammalian and nematode vinculins, and contains internal repeats and proline-rich region typical for vinculins. The X chromosome rearrangement In(1LR)pn2a was found to disrupt Vinc so that the coding sequence is interrupted by the (AAGAG)n satellite DNA. Northern analysis revealed that the Vinc transcript is completely absent in the In(1LR)pn2a homozygous flies. Surprisingly, these Vinc flies are viable and fertile. This finding highlights plasticity and adaptive capacity of cellular cytoskeletal and anchorage system.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. Alatortsev@img.ras.ru
authors.forename: V E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Alatortsev
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Kramerova
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Frolov
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Lavrov
authors.forename: E D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Westphal
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004276:DNA, Satellite / Q000235:genetics; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics*; D005298:Fertility; D018628:Gene Dosage; D017344:Genes, Insect / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D016596:Vinculin / Q000235:genetics*; D014960:X Chromosome / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004276:DNA, Satellite; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016596:Vinculin