Site-directed mutations reveal long-range compensatory interactions in the Adh gene of Drosophila melanogaster.

ABSTRACT: Long-range interactions between the 5' and 3' ends of mRNA molecules have been suggested to play a role in the initiation of translation and the regulation of gene expression. To identify such interactions and to study their molecular evolution, we used phylogenetic analysis to generate a model of mRNA higher-order structure in the Adh transcript of Drosophila melanogaster. This model predicts long-range, tertiary contacts between a region of the protein-encoding sequence just downstream of the start codon and a conserved sequence in the 3' untranslated region (UTR). To further examine the proposed structure, site-directed mutations were generated in vitro in a cloned D. melanogaster Adh gene, and the mutant constructs were introduced into the Drosophila germ line through P-element mediate

SUBMITTER: Parsch J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC19616 | biostudies-literature | 1997 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature