PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - García-Bellido, A.
TI  - GENETIC ANALYSIS OF THE ACHAETE-SCUTE SYSTEM OF <em>DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER</em>
DP  - 1979 Mar 01
TA  - Genetics
PG  - 491--520
VI  - 91
IP  - 3
4099  - http://www.genetics.org/content/91/3/491.short
4100  - http://www.genetics.org/content/91/3/491.full
SO  - Genetics1979 Mar 01; 91
AB  - Several mutations in the achaete-scute region of Drosophila have been analyzed phenotypically and cytologically. One group of them corresponds to point mutations, another t o rearrangements with one breakpoint in this region. Trans heterozygotes of the different point mutations or of the different rearrangements show poor complementation or fail to complement; therefore, they could be interpreted as mutations affecting the same gene product. However, left-right inversion recombinants and duplication-deficiency combinations between rearrangements with different cytological breakpoints uncover a complex organization of the achaete-scute region. This region seems to contain several independent achaete and scute functions, as well as a lethal function, arranged as a tandem reverse repeat at both sides of a lethal locus. Since all of the mutants show the same phenotype qualitatively, though different quantitatively, we suggest that these functions are of a reiterative nature. The achaete-scute wild-type condition may well be dependent on a multimeric gene product made of several evolutionary related monomers.