Skip to main content
PMC home page
Molecular and Cellular Biology logoLink to Molecular and Cellular Biology
. 1988 Dec;8(12):5206–5215. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.12.5206

The brown protein of Drosophila melanogaster is similar to the white protein and to components of active transport complexes.

T D Dreesen 1, D H Johnson 1, S Henikoff 1
PMCID: PMC365623  PMID: 3149712

Abstract

The brown gene of Drosophila melanogaster is required for deposition of pteridine pigments in the compound eye and other tissues. We isolated a ca. 150-kilobase region including brown by microdissection and chromosome walking using cosmids. Among the cDNAs identified by hybridization to the cosmids, one class hybridized to a genomic region that is interrupted in two brown mutants, bw and In(2LR)CK, and to 2.8- and 3.0-kilobase poly(A)+ RNAs which are altered in the mutants. Nucleotide sequencing of these cDNAs revealed that the two transcripts differ as a consequence of alternative poly(A) addition and that both encode the same predicted protein of 675 amino acids. Searches of available databases for amino acid sequence similarities detected a striking overall similarity of this predicted protein to that of the D. melanogaster white gene. The N-terminal portion aligned with the HisP family of membrane-associated ATP-binding proteins, most of which are subunits of active transport complexes in bacteria, and to two regions of the multidrug resistance P-glycoprotein. The C-terminal portion showed a structural similarity to integral membrane components of the same complexes. Taken together with earlier biochemical evidence that brown and white gene products are necessary for uptake of a pteridine precursor and genetic evidence that brown and white proteins interact, our results are consistent with suggestions that these proteins are subunits of a pteridine precursor permease.

Full text

PDF
5206

Images in this article

5208Image
on p.5208
5209Image
on p.5209
5209Image
on p.5209

Selected References

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

  1. Bell A. W., Buckel S. D., Groarke J. M., Hope J. N., Kingsley D. H., Hermodson M. A. The nucleotide sequences of the rbsD, rbsA, and rbsC genes of Escherichia coli K12. J Biol Chem. 1986 Jun 15;261(17):7652–7658. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Campuzano S., Carramolino L., Cabrera C. V., Ruíz-Gómez M., Villares R., Boronat A., Modolell J. Molecular genetics of the achaete-scute gene complex of D. melanogaster. Cell. 1985 Feb;40(2):327–338. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90147-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chen C. J., Chin J. E., Ueda K., Clark D. P., Pastan I., Gottesman M. M., Roninson I. B. Internal duplication and homology with bacterial transport proteins in the mdr1 (P-glycoprotein) gene from multidrug-resistant human cells. Cell. 1986 Nov 7;47(3):381–389. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90595-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Doolittle R. F., Johnson M. S., Husain I., Van Houten B., Thomas D. C., Sancar A. Domainal evolution of a prokaryotic DNA repair protein and its relationship to active-transport proteins. Nature. 1986 Oct 2;323(6087):451–453. doi: 10.1038/323451a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Evans I. J., Downie J. A. The nodI gene product of Rhizobium leguminosarum is closely related to ATP-binding bacterial transport proteins; nucleotide sequence analysis of the nodI and nodJ genes. Gene. 1986;43(1-2):95–101. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(86)90012-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Farmer J. L. An allele-specific suppressor of white-coral in Drosophila melanogaster. Heredity (Edinb) 1977 Oct;39(2):297–303. doi: 10.1038/hdy.1977.70. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Feinberg A. P., Vogelstein B. A technique for radiolabeling DNA restriction endonuclease fragments to high specific activity. Anal Biochem. 1983 Jul 1;132(1):6–13. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(83)90418-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Felmlee T., Pellett S., Welch R. A. Nucleotide sequence of an Escherichia coli chromosomal hemolysin. J Bacteriol. 1985 Jul;163(1):94–105. doi: 10.1128/jb.163.1.94-105.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Fjose A., Polito L. C., Weber U., Gehring W. J. Developmental expression of the white locus of Drosophila melanogaster. EMBO J. 1984 Sep;3(9):2087–2094. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1984.tb02095.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Gill D. R., Hatfull G. F., Salmond G. P. A new cell division operon in Escherichia coli. Mol Gen Genet. 1986 Oct;205(1):134–145. doi: 10.1007/BF02428043. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gilson E., Nikaido H., Hofnung M. Sequence of the malK gene in E.coli K12. Nucleic Acids Res. 1982 Nov 25;10(22):7449–7458. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.22.7449. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Henikoff S., Eghtedarzadeh M. K. Conserved arrangement of nested genes at the Drosophila Gart locus. Genetics. 1987 Dec;117(4):711–725. doi: 10.1093/genetics/117.4.711. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Henikoff S., Meselson M. Transcription at two heat shock loci in Drosophila. Cell. 1977 Oct;12(2):441–451. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(77)90120-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Henikoff S. Unidirectional digestion with exonuclease III creates targeted breakpoints for DNA sequencing. Gene. 1984 Jun;28(3):351–359. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(84)90153-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Henikoff S., Wallace J. C. Detection of protein similarities using nucleotide sequence databases. Nucleic Acids Res. 1988 Jul 11;16(13):6191–6204. doi: 10.1093/nar/16.13.6191. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Higgins C. F., Haag P. D., Nikaido K., Ardeshir F., Garcia G., Ames G. F. Complete nucleotide sequence and identification of membrane components of the histidine transport operon of S. typhimurium. Nature. 1982 Aug 19;298(5876):723–727. doi: 10.1038/298723a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Higgins C. F., Hiles I. D., Salmond G. P., Gill D. R., Downie J. A., Evans I. J., Holland I. B., Gray L., Buckel S. D., Bell A. W. A family of related ATP-binding subunits coupled to many distinct biological processes in bacteria. Nature. 1986 Oct 2;323(6087):448–450. doi: 10.1038/323448a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Higgins C. F., Hiles I. D., Whalley K., Jamieson D. J. Nucleotide binding by membrane components of bacterial periplasmic binding protein-dependent transport systems. EMBO J. 1985 Apr;4(4):1033–1039. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb03735.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Hiles I. D., Gallagher M. P., Jamieson D. J., Higgins C. F. Molecular characterization of the oligopeptide permease of Salmonella typhimurium. J Mol Biol. 1987 May 5;195(1):125–142. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(87)90332-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Hobson A. C., Weatherwax R., Ames G. F. ATP-binding sites in the membrane components of histidine permease, a periplasmic transport system. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Dec;81(23):7333–7337. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.23.7333. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Jack J. W. Molecular organization of the cut locus of Drosophila melanogaster. Cell. 1985 Oct;42(3):869–876. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90283-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Johann S., Hinton S. M. Cloning and nucleotide sequence of the chlD locus. J Bacteriol. 1987 May;169(5):1911–1916. doi: 10.1128/jb.169.5.1911-1916.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Kavenoff R., Zimm B. H. Chromosome-sized DNA molecules from Drosophila. Chromosoma. 1973;41(1):1–27. doi: 10.1007/BF00284071. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Kyte J., Doolittle R. F. A simple method for displaying the hydropathic character of a protein. J Mol Biol. 1982 May 5;157(1):105–132. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(82)90515-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Langridge J., Langridge P., Bergquist P. L. Extraction of nucleic acids from agarose gels. Anal Biochem. 1980 Apr;103(2):264–271. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(80)90266-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Leff S. E., Rosenfeld M. G., Evans R. M. Complex transcriptional units: diversity in gene expression by alternative RNA processing. Annu Rev Biochem. 1986;55:1091–1117. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.55.070186.005303. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. McLachlan A. Drosophila forked locus. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Jan;6(1):1–6. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.1.1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Mount S. M. Sequence similarity. Nature. 1987 Feb 5;325(6104):487–487. doi: 10.1038/325487c0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. O'Hare K., Murphy C., Levis R., Rubin G. M. DNA sequence of the white locus of Drosophila melanogaster. J Mol Biol. 1984 Dec 15;180(3):437–455. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(84)90021-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Poole S. J., Kauvar L. M., Drees B., Kornberg T. The engrailed locus of Drosophila: structural analysis of an embryonic transcript. Cell. 1985 Jan;40(1):37–43. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90306-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Sanger F., Nicklen S., Coulson A. R. DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Dec;74(12):5463–5467. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.12.5463. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Sargent M. G., Bennett M. F. Identification of a specific membrane-particle-associated DNA sequence in Bacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol. 1986 Apr;166(1):38–43. doi: 10.1128/jb.166.1.38-43.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Scalenghe F., Turco E., Edström J. E., Pirrotta V., Melli M. Microdissection and cloning of DNA from a specific region of Drosophila melanogaster polytene chromosomes. Chromosoma. 1981;82(2):205–216. doi: 10.1007/BF00286105. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Simon J. A., Sutton C. A., Lobell R. B., Glaser R. L., Lis J. T. Determinants of heat shock-induced chromosome puffing. Cell. 1985 Apr;40(4):805–817. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90340-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Slatis H M. Position Effects at the Brown Locus in Drosophila Melanogaster. Genetics. 1955 Jan;40(1):5–23. doi: 10.1093/genetics/40.1.5. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Steller H., Pirrotta V. A transposable P vector that confers selectable G418 resistance to Drosophila larvae. EMBO J. 1985 Jan;4(1):167–171. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb02332.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Sullivan D. T., Bell L. A., Paton D. R., Sullivan M. C. Purine transport by malpighian tubules of pteridine-deficient eye color mutants of Drosophila melanogaster. Biochem Genet. 1979 Jun;17(5-6):565–573. doi: 10.1007/BF00498891. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Sullivan D. T., Sullivan M. C. Transport defects as the physiological basis for eye color mutants of Drosophila melanogaster. Biochem Genet. 1975 Oct;13(9-10):603–613. doi: 10.1007/BF00484918. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Surin B. P., Rosenberg H., Cox G. B. Phosphate-specific transport system of Escherichia coli: nucleotide sequence and gene-polypeptide relationships. J Bacteriol. 1985 Jan;161(1):189–198. doi: 10.1128/jb.161.1.189-198.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Thomas P. S. Hybridization of denatured RNA transferred or dotted nitrocellulose paper. Methods Enzymol. 1983;100:255–266. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(83)00060-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Wahl G. M., Stern M., Stark G. R. Efficient transfer of large DNA fragments from agarose gels to diazobenzyloxymethyl-paper and rapid hybridization by using dextran sulfate. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Aug;76(8):3683–3687. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.8.3683. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Walker J. E., Saraste M., Runswick M. J., Gay N. J. Distantly related sequences in the alpha- and beta-subunits of ATP synthase, myosin, kinases and other ATP-requiring enzymes and a common nucleotide binding fold. EMBO J. 1982;1(8):945–951. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1982.tb01276.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Zachar Z., Bingham P. M. Regulation of white locus expression: the structure of mutant alleles at the white locus of Drosophila melanogaster. Cell. 1982 Sep;30(2):529–541. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90250-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Molecular and Cellular Biology are provided here courtesy of Taylor & Francis

RESOURCES