Open AccessPoint mutations in the Drosophila hairy gene demonstrate in vivo requirements for basic, helix-loop-helix, and WRPW domains.
Author(s) -
S. Mark Wainwright,
David IshHorowicz
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
molecular and cellular biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.14
H-Index - 327
eISSN - 1067-8824
pISSN - 0270-7306
DOI - 10.1128/mcb.12.6.2475
Subject(s) - biology , drosophila melanogaster , genetics , basic helix loop helix , gene , mutation , repressor , point mutation , drosophilidae , mutant , microbiology and biotechnology , dna binding protein , transcription factor
The Drosophila pair-rule gene, hairy (h), encodes a nuclear basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) protein that regulates embryonic segmentation and adult bristle patterning. In both cases, the h protein behaves as a transcriptional repressor. In this study, we determined the molecular nature of 12 h alleles. One mutation maps within the HLH domain, consistent with h function requiring homodimerization or heterodimerization with other HLH proteins. A second mutation lies in the basic domain, suggesting that DNA binding is required for h activity. Several mutations show that the h C terminus, in particular the WRPW domain, is also required for h activity, perhaps by interacting with other proteins to mediate transcriptional repression. We show that the h protein in Drosophila virilis closely resembles that in D. melanogaster and includes completely conserved bHLH and WRPW domains.