Germ-line specific variants of components of the mitochondrial outer membrane import machinery in Drosophila.
A search of the Drosophila genome for genes encoding components of the mitochondrial translocase of outer membrane (TOM) complex revealed duplication of genes encoding homologues of Tom20 and Tom40. Tom20 and Tom40 were represented by two differentially expressed homologues in the Drosophila genome. While dtom20 and dtom40 appeared to be expressed ubiquitously, the second variants, called tomboy20 and tomboy40, were expressed only in the male germ-line. Transcripts for tomboy20 and tomboy40 were detected in primary spermatocytes as well as post-meiotic stages. Transcription of tomboy20 and tomboy40 in spermatocytes was not dependent on the transcription factor Cannonball, which is responsible for controlling expression of gene products exclusively required for post-meiotic germ cell differentiation. Epitope-tagging and transient expression of dTom20 and Tomboy40 in mammalian cell culture showed proper targeting to mitochondria.
Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Jennifer J
JJ
Hwa
Alan J
AJ
Zhu
Mark A
MA
Hiller
Charlene Y
CY
Kon
Margaret T
MT
Fuller
Ansgar
A
Santel
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016678:Genome; D018095:Germ-Line Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D007425:Intracellular Membranes; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000235:genetics*; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear