GAL4 enhancer trap targeting of the Drosophila sex determination gene fruitless

✍ Scribed by Anthony J. Dornan; Donald A. Gailey; Stephen F. Goodwin

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 664 KB
• Volume: 42
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1526-954X
• DOI: 10.1002/gene.20143

✦ Synopsis

The fru 4 allele of the sex determination gene fruitless is induced by insertion of a P[lacZ,ry + ] enhancer trap element. This insert also acts to disrupt expression of the fru P1 promoter derived male-specific proteins, consequently impairing male courtship behavior. fru 4 maps less than 2 kb upstream of the fru P3 promoter, whose function is essential for viability. We replaced this insert with a GAL4 element, P[GAL4,w + ], recovering two lines with insertions in opposite orientations at the locus, one of which demonstrated fru-specific mutant phenotypes. Reporter expression of these lines recapitulated that of P3-and P4-derived proteins which, when correlated with a developmental and tissue specific survey of fru promoters' activities, uncovered a previously unsuspected complexity of fru regulation. These novel fru alleles provide the tools for manipulation of fru-expressing cells, allowing the consequent effects to be related back to specific fru functions and the regulatory units controlling these activities. genesis 42: 236-246, 2005. V