Open AccessThe alpha-amylase gene inDrosophila mdanogaster: nucleotide sequence, gene structure and expression motifs
Author(s) -
Poppo H. Boer,
Dónal A. Hickey
Publication year - 1986
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/14.21.8399
Subject(s) - biology , gene , genetics , nucleic acid sequence , intron , drosophila melanogaster , complementary dna , gene expression , sequence motif , peptide sequence , regulatory sequence , sequence analysis , primer extension , exon , conserved sequence , pair rule gene , microbiology and biotechnology , regulator gene , messenger rna
We present the complete nucleotide sequence of a Drosophila alpha-amylase gene and its flanking regions, as determined by cDNA and genomic sequence analysis. This gene, unlike its mammalian counterparts, contains no introns. Nevertheless the insect and mammalian genes share extensive nucleotide similarity and the insect protein contains the four amino acid sequence blocks common to all alpha-amylases. In Drosophila melanogaster, there are two closely-linked copies of the alpha-amylase gene and they are divergently transcribed. In the 5'-regions of the two gene-copies we find high sequence divergence, yet the typical eukaryotic gene expression motifs have been maintained. The 5'-terminus of the alpha-amylase mRNA, as determined by primer extension analysis, maps to a characteristic Drosophila sequence motif. Additional conserved elements upstream of both genes may also be involved in amylase gene expression which is known to be under complex controls that include glucose repression.