Skip to main content
PMC home page
The EMBO Journal logoLink to The EMBO Journal
. 1988 Aug;7(8):2585–2591. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb03108.x

The achaete-scute gene complex of Drosophila melanogaster comprises four homologous genes.

M C Alonso 1, C V Cabrera 1
PMCID: PMC457132  PMID: 2461300

Abstract

We have determined the nucleotide sequence of two genes of the achaete - scute complex (AS-C) and show that they are homologous to two previously sequenced members of the same locus. These four genes are interspersed with other transcription units of unknown function. We also study the expression of one of these genes by in situ hybridization and compare it with the other three genes. We suggest that the complete function ascribed to the AS-C by genetic experiments is carried out by the four homologous genes. We discuss the possible biochemical function of the AS-C in neurogenesis in the light of the homologies of the four genes with the mammalian myc family.

Full text

PDF
2585

Images in this article

2587Image
on p.2587
2589Image
on p.2589
2589Image
on p.2589

Selected References

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

  1. Birnstiel M. L., Busslinger M., Strub K. Transcription termination and 3' processing: the end is in site! Cell. 1985 Jun;41(2):349–359. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(85)80007-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Breathnach R., Chambon P. Organization and expression of eucaryotic split genes coding for proteins. Annu Rev Biochem. 1981;50:349–383. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.50.070181.002025. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cabrera C. V., Martinez-Arias A., Bate M. The expression of three members of the achaete-scute gene complex correlates with neuroblast segregation in Drosophila. Cell. 1987 Jul 31;50(3):425–433. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90496-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. 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]
  5. Casey J., Davidson N. Rates of formation and thermal stabilities of RNA:DNA and DNA:DNA duplexes at high concentrations of formamide. Nucleic Acids Res. 1977;4(5):1539–1552. doi: 10.1093/nar/4.5.1539. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Chia W., Howes G., Martin M., Meng Y. B., Moses K., Tsubota S. Molecular analysis of the yellow locus of Drosophila. EMBO J. 1986 Dec 20;5(13):3597–3605. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04688.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Chirgwin J. M., Przybyla A. E., MacDonald R. J., Rutter W. J. Isolation of biologically active ribonucleic acid from sources enriched in ribonuclease. Biochemistry. 1979 Nov 27;18(24):5294–5299. doi: 10.1021/bi00591a005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Cox K. H., DeLeon D. V., Angerer L. M., Angerer R. C. Detection of mrnas in sea urchin embryos by in situ hybridization using asymmetric RNA probes. Dev Biol. 1984 Feb;101(2):485–502. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(84)90162-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Dale R. M., McClure B. A., Houchins J. P. A rapid single-stranded cloning strategy for producing a sequential series of overlapping clones for use in DNA sequencing: application to sequencing the corn mitochondrial 18 S rDNA. Plasmid. 1985 Jan;13(1):31–40. doi: 10.1016/0147-619x(85)90053-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Davis R. L., Weintraub H., Lassar A. B. Expression of a single transfected cDNA converts fibroblasts to myoblasts. Cell. 1987 Dec 24;51(6):987–1000. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90585-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Doe C. Q., Goodman C. S. Early events in insect neurogenesis. II. The role of cell interactions and cell lineage in the determination of neuronal precursor cells. Dev Biol. 1985 Sep;111(1):206–219. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(85)90446-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Doe C. Q., Hiromi Y., Gehring W. J., Goodman C. S. Expression and function of the segmentation gene fushi tarazu during Drosophila neurogenesis. Science. 1988 Jan 8;239(4836):170–175. doi: 10.1126/science.2892267. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Feinberg A. P., Vogelstein B. "A technique for radiolabeling DNA restriction endonuclease fragments to high specific activity". Addendum. Anal Biochem. 1984 Feb;137(1):266–267. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(84)90381-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. García-Bellido A. Genetic Analysis of the Achaete-Scute System of DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER. Genetics. 1979 Mar;91(3):491–520. doi: 10.1093/genetics/91.3.491. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Glisin V., Crkvenjakov R., Byus C. Ribonucleic acid isolated by cesium chloride centrifugation. Biochemistry. 1974 Jun 4;13(12):2633–2637. doi: 10.1021/bi00709a025. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Hunter T., Cooper J. A. Protein-tyrosine kinases. Annu Rev Biochem. 1985;54:897–930. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.54.070185.004341. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Jiménez F., Campos-Ortega J. A. A region of the Drosophila genome necessary for CNS development. Nature. 1979 Nov 15;282(5736):310–312. doi: 10.1038/282310a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Jiménez F., Campos-Ortega J. A. Genes in subdivision 1B of the Drosophila melanogaster X-chromosome and their influence on neural development. J Neurogenet. 1987 Jun;4(4):179–200. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Kozak M. Compilation and analysis of sequences upstream from the translational start site in eukaryotic mRNAs. Nucleic Acids Res. 1984 Jan 25;12(2):857–872. doi: 10.1093/nar/12.2.857. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Lech K., Anderson K., Brent R. DNA-bound Fos proteins activate transcription in yeast. Cell. 1988 Jan 29;52(2):179–184. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90506-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Ma J., Ptashne M. A new class of yeast transcriptional activators. Cell. 1987 Oct 9;51(1):113–119. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90015-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Melton D. A., Krieg P. A., Rebagliati M. R., Maniatis T., Zinn K., Green M. R. Efficient in vitro synthesis of biologically active RNA and RNA hybridization probes from plasmids containing a bacteriophage SP6 promoter. Nucleic Acids Res. 1984 Sep 25;12(18):7035–7056. doi: 10.1093/nar/12.18.7035. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Messing J. New M13 vectors for cloning. Methods Enzymol. 1983;101:20–78. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(83)01005-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Proudfoot N. J., Brownlee G. G. 3' non-coding region sequences in eukaryotic messenger RNA. Nature. 1976 Sep 16;263(5574):211–214. doi: 10.1038/263211a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Romani S., Campuzano S., Modolell J. The achaete-scute complex is expressed in neurogenic regions of Drosophila embryos. EMBO J. 1987 Jul;6(7):2085–2092. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb02474.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. 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]
  27. Staden R. The current status and portability of our sequence handling software. Nucleic Acids Res. 1986 Jan 10;14(1):217–231. doi: 10.1093/nar/14.1.217. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Taghert P. H., Doe C. Q., Goodman C. S. Cell determination and regulation during development of neuroblasts and neurones in grasshopper embryo. Nature. 1984 Jan 12;307(5947):163–165. doi: 10.1038/307163a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. 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]
  30. Villares R., Cabrera C. V. The achaete-scute gene complex of D. melanogaster: conserved domains in a subset of genes required for neurogenesis and their homology to myc. Cell. 1987 Jul 31;50(3):415–424. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90495-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. White K. Defective neural development in Drosophila melanogaster embryos deficient for the tip of the X chromosome. Dev Biol. 1980 Dec;80(2):332–344. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(80)90409-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The EMBO Journal are provided here courtesy of Nature Publishing Group

RESOURCES