Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1981 Nov;78(11):6789–6792. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.11.6789

DNA sequences homologous to vertebrate oncogenes are conserved in Drosophila melanogaster.

B Z Shilo, R A Weinberg
PMCID: PMC349136  PMID: 6796966

Abstract

Sequences homologous to the oncogene sequences of acute RNA tumor viruses have been shown to be highly conserved within vertebrates. In the present work, eight different oncogene DNA sequences have been used as probes to search for homologous sequences in the DNA of organisms of other phyla. Five of these probes hybridized to the DNA of Drosophila melanogaster. Abelson leukemia virus probe detected a single homologous DNA fragment in Drosophila DNA. In contrast, probes prepared from the genomes of Harvey, avian, and feline sarcoma viruses and avian myelocytomatosis virus hybridized with multiple homologous sequences in Drosophila DNA. The identification of sequences homologous to vertebrate oncogenes in invertebrates demonstrates both a high degree of conservation of these genes and a wide distribution among divergent species. It seems likely that sequences homologous to vertebrate oncogenes play a crucial role in metazoan metabolism.

Full text

PDF
6789

Images in this article

6790Image
on p.6790
6791Image
on p.6791
6791Image
on p.6791

Selected References

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

  1. Andersson P., Goldfarb M. P., Weinberg R. A. A defined subgenomic fragment of in vitro synthesized Moloney sarcoma virus DNA can induce cell transformation upon transfection. Cell. 1979 Jan;16(1):63–75. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(79)90188-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Andersson P. The oncogenic function of mammalian sarcoma viruses. Adv Cancer Res. 1980;33:109–171. doi: 10.1016/s0065-230x(08)60670-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bishop J. M., Courtneidge S. A., Levinson A. D., Oppermann H., Quintrell N., Sheiness D. K., Weiss S. R., Varmus H. E. Origin and function of avian retrovirus transforming genes. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1980;44(Pt 2):919–930. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1980.044.01.099. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Canaani E., Robbins K. C., Aaronson S. A. The transforming gene of Moloney murine sarcoma virus. Nature. 1979 Nov 22;282(5737):378–383. doi: 10.1038/282378a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chang E. H., Maryak J. M., Wei C. M., Shih T. Y., Shober R., Cheung H. L., Ellis R. W., Hager G. L., Scolnick E. M., Lowy D. R. Functional organization of the Harvey murine sarcoma virus genome. J Virol. 1980 Jul;35(1):76–92. doi: 10.1128/jvi.35.1.76-92.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Collett M. S., Erikson E., Purchio A. F., Brugge J. S., Erikson R. L. A normal cell protein similar in structure and function to the avian sarcoma virus transforming gene product. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Jul;76(7):3159–3163. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.7.3159. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Collett M. S., Purchio A. F., Erikson R. L. Avian sarcoma virus-transforming protein, pp60src shows protein kinase activity specific for tyrosine. Nature. 1980 May 15;285(5761):167–169. doi: 10.1038/285167a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Frankel A. E., Fischinger P. J. Nucleotide sequences in mouse DNA and RNA specific for Moloney sarcoma virus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1976 Oct;73(10):3705–3709. doi: 10.1073/pnas.73.10.3705. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Frankel A. E., Gilbert J. H., Porzig K. J., Scolnick E. M., Aaronson S. A. Nature and distribution of feline sarcoma virus nucleotide sequences. J Virol. 1979 Jun;30(3):821–827. doi: 10.1128/jvi.30.3.821-827.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Goff S. P., Gilboa E., Witte O. N., Baltimore D. Structure of the Abelson murine leukemia virus genome and the homologous cellular gene: studies with cloned viral DNA. Cell. 1980 Dec;22(3):777–785. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(80)90554-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hunter T., Sefton B. M. Transforming gene product of Rous sarcoma virus phosphorylates tyrosine. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Mar;77(3):1311–1315. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.3.1311. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Karess R. E., Hayward W. S., Hanafusa H. Cellular information in the genome of recovered avian sarcoma virus directs the synthesis of transforming protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Jul;76(7):3154–3158. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.7.3154. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Oppermann H., Levinson A. D., Varmus H. E., Levintow L., Bishop J. M. Uninfected vertebrate cells contain a protein that is closely related to the product of the avian sarcoma virus transforming gene (src). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Apr;76(4):1804–1808. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.4.1804. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Oskarsson M., McClements W. L., Blair D. G., Maizel J. V., Vande Woude G. F. Properties of a normal mouse cell DNA sequence (sarc) homologous to the src sequence of Moloney sarcoma virus. Science. 1980 Mar 14;207(4436):1222–1224. doi: 10.1126/science.6243788. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Potter S. S., Brorein W. J., Jr, Dunsmuir P., Rubin G. M. Transposition of elements of the 412, copia and 297 dispersed repeated gene families in Drosophila. Cell. 1979 Jun;17(2):415–427. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(79)90168-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Rigby P. W., Dieckmann M., Rhodes C., Berg P. Labeling deoxyribonucleic acid to high specific activity in vitro by nick translation with DNA polymerase I. J Mol Biol. 1977 Jun 15;113(1):237–251. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(77)90052-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Roussel M., Saule S., Lagrou C., Rommens C., Beug H., Graf T., Stehelin D. Three new types of viral oncogene of cellular origin specific for haematopoietic cell transformation. Nature. 1979 Oct 11;281(5731):452–455. doi: 10.1038/281452a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Sefton B. M., Hunter T., Beemon K. Relationship of polypeptide products of the transforming gene of Rous sarcoma virus and the homologous gene of vertebrates. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Apr;77(4):2059–2063. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.4.2059. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Sheiness D., Bishop J. M. DNA and RNA from uninfected vertebrate cells contain nucleotide sequences related to the putative transforming gene of avian myelocytomatosis virus. J Virol. 1979 Aug;31(2):514–521. doi: 10.1128/jvi.31.2.514-521.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Southern E. M. Detection of specific sequences among DNA fragments separated by gel electrophoresis. J Mol Biol. 1975 Nov 5;98(3):503–517. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(75)80083-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Spector D. H., Varmus H. E., Bishop J. M. Nucleotide sequences related to the transforming gene of avian sarcoma virus are present in DNA of uninfected vertebrates. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1978 Sep;75(9):4102–4106. doi: 10.1073/pnas.75.9.4102. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Spector M., O'Neal S., Racker E. Regulation of phosphorylation of the beta-subunit of th Ehrlich ascites tumor Na+K+-ATPase by a protein kinase cascade. J Biol Chem. 1981 May 10;256(9):4219–4227. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Spector M., Pepinsky R. B., Vogt V. M., Racker E. A mouse homolog to the avian sarcoma virus src protein is a member of a protein kinase cascade. Cell. 1981 Jul;25(1):9–21. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90227-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Stehelin D., Varmus H. E., Bishop J. M., Vogt P. K. DNA related to the transforming gene(s) of avian sarcoma viruses is present in normal avian DNA. Nature. 1976 Mar 11;260(5547):170–173. doi: 10.1038/260170a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Van de Ven W. J., Reynolds F. H., Jr, Stephenson J. R. The nonstructural components of polyproteins encoded by replication-defective mammalian transforming retroviruses are phosphorylated and have associated protein kinase activity. Virology. 1980 Feb;101(1):185–197. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(80)90495-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Witte O. N., Dasgupta A., Baltimore D. Abelson murine leukaemia virus protein is phosphorylated in vitro to form phosphotyrosine. Nature. 1980 Feb 28;283(5750):826–831. doi: 10.1038/283826a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Witte O. N., Rosenberg N. E., Baltimore D. A normal cell protein cross-reactive to the major Abelson murine leukaemia virus gene product. Nature. 1979 Oct 4;281(5730):396–398. doi: 10.1038/281396a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Yoshida M., Kawai S., Toyoshima K. Unifected avian cells contain structurally unrelated progenitors of viral sarcoma genes. Nature. 1980 Oct 16;287(5783):653–654. doi: 10.1038/287653a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES