title: Identification of a transcriptional regulatory region for germline-specific expression of vasa gene in Drosophila melanogaster.
abstract: The vasa gene (vas) is essential for germline development in Drosophila melanogaster. Zygotic vas is expressed in pole cells earlier than any other pole cell-expressing genes thus far identified, and VAS protein is continuously present in germline cells throughout development. Here, we report the identification of a regulatory region that directs germline-specific vas expression. A genomic fragment containing the vas locus was linked to enhanced green fluorescent protein (egfp)-vas fusion gene, and the resulting gene was introduced into fly genome. Developmental vas expression was assessed by monitoring the expression of EGFP-VAS in these transformants. The spatio-temporal expression pattern of EGFP-VAS is essentially identical to that of endogenous VAS throughout germline development. By dissecting the vas promoter, we identified a 40-bp regulatory element, which is necessary and sufficient for germline-specific expression during oogenesis. This region interacts specifically with ovarian protein(s). Furthermore, this region is also required for vas expression in pole cells during embryogenesis. These results suggest that a similar mechanism regulates vas expression both in oogenesis and embryogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
mesh_terms: D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D005260:Female; D017353:Gene Deletion; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010053:Ovary / Q000378:metabolism; D020365:RNA Helicases / Q000235:genetics*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D001616:beta-Galactosidase; C088269:vas protein, Drosophila; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D020365:RNA Helicases