- THIS ARTICLE
- Full Text (Rapid PDF)
-
All Versions of this Article:
genetics.105.041400v1
170/4/1711 most recent - Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me if a correction is posted
- SERVICES
- Similar articles in this journal
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Alert me to new issues of the journal
- Download to citation manager
- Reprints & Permissions
- CITING ARTICLES
- Citing Articles via HighWire
- Citing Articles via Google Scholar
- GOOGLE SCHOLAR
- Articles by Coulthard, A. B
- Articles by Hilliker, A. J.
- Search for Related Content
- PUBMED
- PubMed Citation
- Articles by Coulthard, A. B
- Articles by Hilliker, A. J.
doi:10.1534/genetics.105.041400
A more recent version of this article appeared on August 1, 2005.
REGULAR RESEARCH PAPERS |
Transvection at the vestigial locus of Drosophila melanogaster
Alistair B Coulthard 1, Nadia Nolan 1, John B Bell 2 and Arthur J. Hilliker 1*
1 York University
2 University of Alberta
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hilliker{at}yorku.ca.
Submitted on February 1, 2005
Revised on March 2, 2005
Accepted on 14 April 2005
Transvection is a phenomenon wherein gene expression is effected by the interaction of alleles in trans and often results in partial complementation between mutant alleles. Transvection is dependent upon somatic pairing between homologous chromosome regions and is a form of interallelic complementation that does not occur at the polypeptide level. In this study we demonstrated that transvection could occur at the vestigial (vg) locus by revealing that partial complementation between two vg mutant alleles could be disrupted by changing the genomic location of the alleles through chromosome rearrangement. If chromosome rearrangements affect transvection by disrupting somatic pairing, then combining chromosome rearrangements that restore somatic pairing should restore transvection. We were able to restore partial complementation in numerous rearrangement trans-heterozygotes, thus providing substantial evidence that the observed complementation at vg results from a transvection effect. Cytological analyses revealed this transvection effect to have a large proximal critical region, a feature common to other transvection effects. In the Drosophila interphase nucleus, paired chromosome arms are separated into distinct, non-overlapping domains. We propose that if the relative position of each arm in the nucleus is determined by the centromere as a relic of chromosome positions after the last mitotic division, then a locus will be displaced to a different territory of the interphase nucleus relative to its non-rearranged homologue by any rearrangement that links that locus to a different centromere. This physical displacement in the nucleus hinders transvection by disrupting the somatic pairing of homologous chromosomes and gives rise to proximal critical regions.
Key Words: Drosophila melanogaster, somatic pairing, transvection, vestigial
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  D. Gohl, M. Muller, V. Pirrotta, M. Affolter, and P. Schedl Enhancer Blocking and Transvection at the Drosophila apterous Locus Genetics, January 1, 2008; 178(1): 127 - 143. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. M. Lee and C.-t. Wu Enhancer-Promoter Communication at the yellow Gene of Drosophila melanogaster: Diverse Promoters Participate in and Regulate trans Interactions Genetics, December 1, 2006; 174(4): 1867 - 1880. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|