Open AccessIn vivotranscription of rDNA spacers inDrosophila
Author(s) -
Vicki L. Murtif,
Peter M. M. Rae
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
nucleic acids research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 9.008
H-Index - 537
eISSN - 1362-4954
pISSN - 0305-1048
DOI - 10.1093/nar/13.9.3221
Subject(s) - biology , transcription (linguistics) , genetics , drosophila melanogaster , nuclease , ribosomal rna , rna , direct repeat , spacer dna , microbiology and biotechnology , coding region , gene , internal transcribed spacer , genome , philosophy , linguistics
The sequence-nonhomologous rDNA spacers of D. melanogaster and D. virilis exhibit remarkably similar organizations and transcription capabilities. In spacers of both species, tandemly repeated sequences are present upstream of the beginning of the pre-rRNA coding region, and the repeats are capable of transcriptional activity. Short, nuclear transcripts homologous to the spacer repeats have been identified by S1 nuclease protection experiments and by northern blot analyses. Although spacer transcripts are rare in steady state RNA populations, the presence of multiple promoter elements may suggest a regulatory role for rDNA spacers.