Open AccessDosage Compensation in Drosophila: Evidence That daughterless and Sex-lethal Control X Chromosome Activity at the Blastoderm Stage of Embryogenesis
Author(s) -
J. Peter Gergen
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
genetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.792
H-Index - 246
eISSN - 1943-2631
pISSN - 0016-6731
DOI - 10.1093/genetics/117.3.477
Subject(s) - dosage compensation , blastoderm , biology , genetics , x chromosome , phenotype , gene , chromosome , x inactivation , embryo , gene dosage , skewed x inactivation , lethal allele , embryogenesis , gene expression
Dosage compensation is a mechanism that equalizes the expression of X chromosome linked genes in males, who have one X chromosome, with that in females, who have two. In Drosophila, this is achieved by the relative hyperactivation of X-linked genes in males, as was first shown by Muller using a phenotypic assay based on adult eye color. Several genes involved in regulating dosage compensation have been identified through the isolation of mutations that are sex-specific lethals. However, because of this lethality it is not straightforward to assay the relative roles of these genes using assays based on adult phenotypes. Here this problem is circumvented using an assay based on embryonic phenotypes. These experiments indicate that dosage compensation is established early in development and demonstrate that the daughterless and Sex-lethal gene products are involved in regulating X chromosome activity at the blastoderm stage of embryogenesis.