Pleiotropic Effect of Disrupting a Conserved Sequence Involved in a Long-Range Compensatory Interaction in the Drosophila Adh Gene

Corresponding author: John F. Baines, University of Munich, Luisenstrasse14, 80333 Munich, Germany., baines{at}zi.biologie.uni-muenchen.de (E-mail)

Communicating editor: S. W. SCHAEFFER

Recent advances in experimental analyses of the evolution of RNA secondary structures suggest a more complex scenario than that typically considered by Kimura's classical model of compensatory evolution. In this study, we examine one such case in more detail. Previous experimental analysis of long-range compensatory interactions between the two ends of Drosophila Adh mRNA failed to fit the classical model of compensatory evolution. To further investigate and verify long-range pairing in Drosophila Adh with respect to models of compensatory evolution and its potential functional role, we introduced site-directed mutations in the Drosophila melanogaster Adh gene. We explore two alternative hypotheses for why previous analysis of long-range compensatory interactions failed to fit the classical model. Specifically, we investigate whether the disruption of a conserved short-range pairing within Adh exon 2 has an effect on Adh expression or if there is a dual functional role of a conserved sequence in the 3'-UTR in both long-range pairing and the negative regulation of Adh expression. We find that a classical result was not observed due to the pleiotropic effect of changing a nucleotide involved in both long-range base pairing and the negative regulation of gene expression.

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