A cis-regulatory sequence within the yellow locus of Drosophila melanogaster required for normal male mating success.
Drosophila melanogaster males perform a courtship ritual consisting of a series of dependent fixed-action patterns. The yellow (y) gene is required for normal male courtship behavior and subsequent mating success. To better characterize the requirement for y in the manifestation of innate male sexual behavior, we measured the male mating success (MMS) of 12 hypomorphic y mutants and matched-outbred-background controls using a y+ rescue element on a freely segregating minichromosome. We found that 4 hypomorphs significantly reduced MMS to varying degrees. Reduced MMS was largely independent of adult pigmentation patterns. These mutations defined a 300-bp regulatory region upstream of the transcription start, the mating-success regulatory sequence (MRS), whose function is required for normal MMS. Visualization of gene action via GFP and a Yellow antibody suggests that the MRS directs y transcription in a small number of cells in the third instar CNS, the developmental stage previously implicated in the role of y with regard to male courtship behavior. The presence of Yellow protein in these cells positively correlates with MMS in a subset of mutants. The MRS contains a regulatory sequence controlling larval pigmentation and a 35-bp sequence that is highly conserved within the genus Drosophila and is predicted to bind known transcription factors.
Drapeau
Mark David
MD
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine 92697, USA. mdd6@nyu.edu
Cyran
Shawn A
SA
Viering
Michaela M
MM
Geyer
Pamela K
PK
Long
Anthony D
AD
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003380:Courtship; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology*; D005819:Genetic Markers; D014644:Genetic Variation; D007814:Larva / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010858:Pigmentation / Q000235:genetics; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005819:Genetic Markers; D014157:Transcription Factors; C050680:y protein, Drosophila