Abstract
We examined the behavior of an autosomal recessive maternal-effect mutation, abnormal-oocyte (abo), that is located in the euchromatin of the left arm of chromosome 2. When homozygous in females, abo results in a marked reduction in the probability that an egg produced by a mutant mother will develop into an adult. However, this probability is increased if the fertilizing sperm delivers to the egg either a normal allele of the maternal-effect gene or a specific type of heterochromatin (called ABO) that is located in small regions of the X and Y chromosome constitutive heterochromatin as well as in some autosomal heterochromatin. These regions, moreover, all react to Hoechst 33258 fluorescent dye identically and specifically. The amelioration of the maternal effect produced by this heterochromatin differs temporally from that caused by the normal allele of the euchromatic gene: the heterochromatin reduces only precellular blastoderm mortality, whereas the normal allele of the euchromatic gene reduces only postblastoderm mortality. Thus, although the genome of the preblastoderm Drosophila embryo is apparently mostly silent, the ABO-containing heterochromatin functions at this early time. Finally, preliminary data indicate that abo is but one member of a cluster of linked genes, each of which interacts with its own normal allele and with a different, locus-specific, heterochromatic factor. From these observations, it appears that Drosophila heterochromatin contains developmentally important genetic elements, and that a functional concomitant of heterochromatic location is gene action at a developmental stage during which the activity of the euchromatic genome is as yet undetectable. Some general implications of these inferences are considered.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (3.5 MB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Anderson K. V., Lengyel J. A. Rates of synthesis of major classes of RNA in Drosophila embryos. Dev Biol. 1979 May;70(1):217–231. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(79)90018-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Appels R., Hilliker A. J. The cytogenetic boundaries of the rDNA region within heterochromatin in the X chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster and their relation to male meiotic pairing sites. Genet Res. 1982 Apr;39(2):149–156. doi: 10.1017/s001667230002084x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- COOPER K. W. Cytogenetic analysis of major heterochromatic elements (especially Xh and Y) in Drosophila melanogaster, and the theory of "heterochromatin". Chromosoma. 1959;10:535–588. doi: 10.1007/BF00396588. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Foe V. E., Alberts B. M. Studies of nuclear and cytoplasmic behaviour during the five mitotic cycles that precede gastrulation in Drosophila embryogenesis. J Cell Sci. 1983 May;61:31–70. doi: 10.1242/jcs.61.1.31. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gatti M., Pimpinelli S., Santini G. Characterization of Drosophila heterochromatin. I. Staining and decondensation with Hoechst 33258 and quinacrine. Chromosoma. 1976 Sep 24;57(4):351–375. doi: 10.1007/BF00332160. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hafen E., Kuroiwa A., Gehring W. J. Spatial distribution of transcripts from the segmentation gene fushi tarazu during Drosophila embryonic development. Cell. 1984 Jul;37(3):833–841. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90418-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hardy R. W., Lindsley D. L., Livak K. J., Lewis B., Siversten A. L., Joslyn G. L., Edwards J., Bonaccorsi S. Cytogenetic analysis of a segment of the Y chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics. 1984 Aug;107(4):591–610. doi: 10.1093/genetics/107.4.591. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Krider H. M., Yedvobnick B., Levine B. I. The effect of abo phenotypic expression on ribosomal DNA instabilities in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics. 1979 Jul;92(3):879–889. doi: 10.1093/genetics/92.3.879. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- McKee B. Sex Chromosome Meiotic Drive in DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER Males. Genetics. 1984 Mar;106(3):403–422. doi: 10.1093/genetics/106.3.403. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sandler L. Studies on the genetic control of heterochromatin in Drosophila melanogaster. Elizabeth Goldschmidt Memorial Lecture. Isr J Med Sci. 1975 Nov;11(11):1124–1134. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Zalokar M. Autoradiographic study of protein and RNA formation during early development of Drosophila eggs. Dev Biol. 1976 Apr;49(2):425–437. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(76)90185-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]