Genetics, Vol. 177, 1955-1957, November 2007, Copyright © 2007
doi:10.1534/genetics.107.078220

Drosophila G9a Is a Nonessential Gene

Department of Zoology and Animal Biology, University of Geneva, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland

1 Corresponding author: Department of Zoology and Animal Biology, University of Geneva, 30 Quai Ernest-Ansermet, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland.
E-mail: pierre.spierer{at}zoo.unige.ch

Mammalian G9a is a euchromatic histone H3 lysine 9 (H3K9) methyltransferase essential for development. Here, we characterize the Drosophila homolog of G9a, dG9a. We generated a dG9a deletion allele by homologous recombination. Analysis of this allele revealed that, in contrast to recent findings, dG9a is not required for fly viability.