Krüppel-homolog, a stage-specific modulator of the prepupal ecdysone response, is essential for Drosophila metamorphosis.
We have characterised a P-element-induced prepupal mutant of Drosophila melanogaster which after an apparently normal embryonic and larval development fails to complete head eversion, an essential step in metamorphosis. The P-element insertion disrupts an ecdysone-regulated transcript which, although expressed during embryonic and larval stages, appears critical for preparing the late prepupal response to ecdysone. By a combination of molecular and genetic studies, in which we recovered new alleles, we show that the locus is complex, containing at least two distinct promoters. Its transcripts contain a short region described previously by R. Schüh et al. (1986, Cell 47, 1025-1032), who screened for homologues of the Krüppel gene. Our studies on the corresponding gene, named Krüppel-homolog (Kr-h), add to a growing body of evidence that specific isoforms of a number of key genes are implicated in both embryogenesis and metamorphosis.
Pecasse
F
F
Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, CNRS/INSERM/ULP, Illkirch Cedex, C.U. de Strasbourg, 67404, France.
Beck
Y
Y
Ruiz
C
C
Richards
G
G
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000196:embryology*; D004440:Ecdysone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000235:genetics; D005804:Genes, Lethal; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D051741:Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors; D008297:Male; D008675:Metamorphosis, Biological; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000187:drug effects; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; C497244:Kr protein, Drosophila; C497242:Kr-h1 protein, Drosophila; D051741:Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D004440:Ecdysone