Skip to main content
PMC home page
Genetics logoLink to Genetics
. 1980 Jul;95(3):661–672. doi: 10.1093/genetics/95.3.661

Analysis of the Autosomal Mutation abo and Its Interaction with the Ribosomal DNA of DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER: The Role of X-Chromosome Heterochromatin

Barry Yedvobnick 1, Hallie M Krider 1, Bryan I Levine 1
PMCID: PMC1214253  PMID: 6777245

Abstract

The autosomal recessive, maternal-effect mutation abnormal oocyte (abo: 2–38) preferentially lowers the viability of XO progeny. The severity of the sex-ratio distortion is reduced by duplications of maternal or zygotic heterochromatin (Sandler 1970, 1977; Parry and Sandler 1974). Utilizing X-chromosome inversions that contain modifications in the quantity and arrangement of the heterochromatic functions, Xhabo and cr+, we have extended our investigations of abo's influence on XO male recovery and rDNA redundancy (Krider, Yedvobnick and Levine 1979).——XO males bearing In(1)scS1Lsc4R or In(1)wm4Lsc4R are recovered twice as frequently as X chromosomes containing a single Xh region, implying that these inversions possess a duplication of Xhabo. abo mutant females heterozygous for In(1)scS1Lsc4R and wild-type X chromosomes generate XO progeny that do not contain elevated rDNA redundancies. XO males containing In(1)wm4 exhibit male recoveries and rDNA elevations similar to those of males bearing a wild-type X chromosome, when both derive from a common abo/abo mother. Reciprocal crosses between In(1)wm4 and Canton-S males to attached-X abo females show significant, though reduced, sex ratios in the absence of an rDNA effect. The observation that abo can elevate the rDNA redundancy of In(1)wm4, a chromosome that does not compensate, suggests that abo and cr+ functions are not directly related.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (762.9 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Baker W. K. Evidence for position-effect suppression of the ribosomal RNA cistrons in Drosophila melanogaster. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1971 Oct;68(10):2472–2476. doi: 10.1073/pnas.68.10.2472. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Krider H. M., Levine B. I. Studies on the mutation abnormal oocyte and its interaction with the ribosomal DNA of Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics. 1975 Nov;81(3):501–513. doi: 10.1093/genetics/81.3.501. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Krider H. M., Plaut W. Studies on nucleolar RNA synthesis in Drosophila melanogaster. II. The influence of conditions resulting in a bobbed phenotype on rate of synthesis and secondary constriction formation. J Cell Sci. 1972 Nov;11(3):689–697. doi: 10.1242/jcs.11.3.689. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. 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]
  5. Mohan J. Ribosomal DNA and its expression in Drosophila melanogaster during growth and development. Mol Gen Genet. 1976 Aug 19;147(2):217–223. doi: 10.1007/BF00267574. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Nix C. E. Suppression of transcription of the ribosomal RNA cistrons of Drosophila melanogaster in a structurally rearranged chromosome. Biochem Genet. 1973 Sep;10(1):1–12. doi: 10.1007/BF00485743. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Parry D. M., Sandler L. The genetic identification of a heterochromatic segment on the X chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics. 1974 Jul;77(3):535–539. doi: 10.1093/genetics/77.3.535. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Peacock W. J., Lohe A. R., Gerlach W. L., Dunsmuir P., Dennis E. S., Appels R. Fine structure and evolution of DNA in heterochromatin. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1978;42(Pt 2):1121–1135. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1978.042.01.113. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Procunier J. D., Tartof K. D. A genetic locus having trans and contiguous cis functions that control the disproportionate replication of ribosomal RNA genes in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics. 1978 Jan;88(1):67–79. doi: 10.1093/genetics/88.1.67. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Puckett L. D., Snyder L. A. Biochemical evidence for position-effect suppression of ribosomal RNA synthesis in Drosophila melanogaster. Exp Cell Res. 1975 Oct 1;95(1):31–38. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(75)90605-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Sandler L. Evidence for a set of closely linked autosomal genes that interact with sex-chromosome heterochromatin in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics. 1977 Jul;86(3):567–582. doi: 10.1093/genetics/86.3.567. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Genetics are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES