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Coding and potential regulatory sequences of a cluster of chorion genes in Drosophila melanogaster

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Abstract

We have characterized at the nucleotide level a 4.8-kilobase pair segment of the third chromosome of Droophila melanogaster, which contains a cluster of three chorion genes, s 18-1, s 15-1 and s 19-1. These genes are tandemly oriented and share the same basic organization: a small and a large exon separated by a short intron in the signal peptide region. In the coding region, limited similarities at the DNA and protein level suggest a common but distant evolutionary origin. The flanking sequences were searched for elements that might be involved in controlling the tissue-specific and temporally regulated expression and the selective amplification of the chorion genes. A good candidate for a cis-regulatory element is the hexamer, TCACGT, which is found in all three genes in a highly significant position, 23 to 27 nucleotides upstream of the TATA-box, accompanied by additional, less exact similarities. Palindromes and short inverted repeats that are found in the vicinity of their complement are non-uniformly distributed: they are most concentrated in the 3′ flanking part of all three genes, in and near regions of unusually high A and T content. The highest number of dyad symmetries, remiiscent of sequences that function as viral replication origins, is found associated with the T- and A-rich regions between genes s18-1 and s15-1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, 02138, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Yuk -Chor Wong, James Pustell, Nikolaus Spoerel & Fotis C. Kafatos

  2. Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and Department of Biology, University of Crete, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Fotis C. Kafatos

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  1. Yuk -Chor Wong
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  2. James Pustell
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  3. Nikolaus Spoerel
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  4. Fotis C. Kafatos
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Wong, Y.C., Pustell, J., Spoerel, N. et al. Coding and potential regulatory sequences of a cluster of chorion genes in Drosophila melanogaster . Chromosoma 92, 124–135 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00328464

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00328464

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