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Originally published as Genetics Published Articles Ahead of Print on November 1, 2004.
Genetics, Vol. 169, 723-736, February 2005, Copyright © 2005
doi:10.1534/genetics.103.020842
Trans-splicing of the mod(mdg4) Complex Locus Is Conserved Between the Distantly Related Species Drosophila melanogaster and D. virilis
Manuela Gabler*,
Michael Volkmar*,
Susan Weinlich*,
Andreas Herbst*,
Philine Dobberthien*,
Stefanie Sklarss*,
Laura Fanti
,
Sergio Pimpinelli,
Horst Kress
,
Gunter Reuter* and
Rainer Dorn*,1
* Institute of Genetics, Martin Luther University, D-06120 Halle, Germany
Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, University La Sapienza, I-00185 Rome, Italy
Institute for Biology-Genetics, Free University of Berlin, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
1 Corresponding author: Institute of Genetics, Martin Luther University, Weinbergweg 10, D-06120 Halle, Germany.
E-mail: dorn{at}genetik.uni-halle.de
The modifier of mdg4, mod(mdg4), locus in Drosophila melanogaster represents a new type of complex gene in which functional diversity is resolved by mRNA trans-splicing. A protein family of >30 transcriptional regulators, which are supposed to be involved in higher-order chromatin structure, is encoded by both DNA strands of this locus. Mutations in mod(mdg4) have been identified independently in a number of genetic screens involving position-effect variegation, modulation of chromatin insulators, apoptosis, pathfinding of nerve cells, and chromosome pairing, indicating pleiotropic effects. The unusual gene structure and mRNA trans-splicing are evolutionary conserved in the distantly related species Drosophila virilis. Chimeric mod(mdg4) transcripts encoded from nonhomologous chromosomes containing the splice donor from D. virilis and the acceptor from D. melanogaster are produced in transgenic flies. We demonstrate that a significant amount of protein can be produced from these chimeric mRNAs. The evolutionary and functional conservation of mod(mdg4) and mRNA trans-splicing in both Drosophila species is furthermore demonstrated by the ability of D. virilis mod(mdg4) transgenes to rescue recessive lethality of mod(mdg4) mutant alleles in D. melanogaster.
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