Structure and expression of wild-type and suppressible alleles of the Drosophila purple gene

Journal Article · Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1996 · Genetics

OSTI ID:518185

Kim, Nacksung ^[1]; Park, Dongkook; Yim, John ^[2]

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1. Seoul National Univ. (Korea, Republic of)
2. Seoul National Univ. (Korea, Republic of); and others

Viable mutant alleles of purple (pr), such as pr{sup bw}, exhibit mutant eye colors. This reflects low 6-pyruvoyl tetrahydropterin (PTP) synthase activity required for pigment synthesis. PTP synthase is also required for synthesis of the enzyme cofactor biopterin; presumably this is why some pr alleles are lethal. The pr{sup bw} eye color phenotype is suppressed by suppressor of sable [su(s)] mutations. The pr gene was cloned to explore the mechanism of this suppression. pr produces two PTP synthase mRNAs: one constitutively from a distal promoter and one in late pupae and young adult heads from a proximal promoter. The latter presumably supports eye pigment synthesis. The pr{sup bw} allele has a 412 retrotransposon in an intron spliced from both mRNAs. However, the head-specific mRNA is reduced > 10-fold in pr{sup bw} and is restored by a su(s) mutation, while the constitutive transcript is barely affected. The Su(s) protein probably alters processing of RNA containing 412. Because the intron containing 412 is the first in the head-specific mRNA and the second in the constitutive mRNA, binding of splicing machinery to nascent transcripts before the 412 insertion is transcribed may preclude the effects of Su(s) protein. 43 refs., 9 figs.

• OSTI ID: 518185
• Journal Information: Genetics, Vol. 142, Issue 4; Other Information: PBD: Apr 1996
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

55 BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
BASIC STUDIES
GENES
DNA SEQUENCING
SPONTANEOUS MUTATIONS
GENE REGULATION
DNA-CLONING
STRUCTURE-ACTIVITY RELATIONSHIPS
TRANSCRIPTION
LETHAL MUTATIONS
SPLICING
GENETIC MAPPING
DROSOPHILA
MUTANTS
PHENOTYPE
EYES
PIGMENTS
BIOSYNTHESIS
ENZYMES
ENZYME ACTIVITY
PROTEINS
MESSENGER-RNA
INTRONS
TRANSPOSONS
PTERIDINES
DNA HYBRIDIZATION