Home LiteratureArticle Details
PMID: 9475733 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Enhancer of Polycomb is a suppressor of position-effect variegation in Drosophila melanogaster.

Genetics ·Vol. 148 ·No. 1 ·1998-01-00 ·Pages 211-20

Sinclair DA, Clegg NJ, Antonchuk J, Milne TA, Stankunas K, Ruse C, Grigliatti TA, Kassis JA, Brock HW

Abstract

Polycomb group (PcG) genes of Drosophila are negative regulators of homeotic gene expression required for maintenance of determination. Sequence similarity between Polycomb and Su(var)205 led to the suggestion that PcG genes and modifiers of position-effect variegation (PEV) might function analogously in the establishment of chromatin structure. If PcG proteins participate directly in the same process that leads to PEV, PcG mutations should suppress PEV. We show that mutations in E(Pc), an unusual member of the PcG, suppress PEV of four variegating rearrangements: In(l)wm4, B(SV), T(2;3)Sb(V) and In(2R)bw(VDe2). Using reversion of a Pelement insertion, deficiency mapping, and recombination mapping as criteria, homeotic effects and suppression of PEV associated with E(Pc) co-map. Asx is an enhancer of PEV, whereas nine other PcG loci do not affect PEV. These results support the conclusion that there are fewer similarities between PcG genes and modifiers of PEV than previously supposed. However, E(Pc) appears to be an important link between the two groups. We discuss why Asx might act as an enhancer of PEV.

MeSH Terms
Animals Chromobox Protein Homolog 5 Chromosomes/genetics Drosophila Proteins Drosophila melanogaster/genetics Genes, Insect/genetics,physiology Genes, Suppressor/genetics,physiology Mutation Phenotype Restriction Mapping Suppression, Genetic
Authors & Affiliations
9 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Sinclair D A
IMBB, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
Clegg N J
Antonchuk J
Milne T A
Stankunas K
Ruse C
Grigliatti T A
Kassis J A
Brock H W
References (57)
57 references, click to expand
  1. Imprinting a determined state into the chromatin of Drosophila.
    Trends Genet. 1990 Dec;6(12):416-21 PMID: 1982376
  2. Comparison of germline mosaics of genes in the Polycomb group of Drosophila melanogaster.
    Genetics. 1995 May;140(1):231-43 PMID: 7635288
  3. Ten different Polycomb group genes are required for spatial control of the abdA and AbdB homeotic products.
    Development. 1992 Feb;114(2):493-505 PMID: 1350533
  4. A genetic analysis of the Suppressor 2 of zeste complex of Drosophila melanogaster.
    Genetics. 1995 May;140(1):139-81 PMID: 7635282
  5. Locking in stable states of gene expression: transcriptional control during Drosophila development.
    Curr Opin Cell Biol. 1995 Jun;7(3):376-85 PMID: 7662368
  6. In vivo binding pattern of a trans-regulator of homoeotic genes in Drosophila melanogaster.
    Nature. 1989 Feb 2;337(6206):468-71 PMID: 2563569
  7. The transcription unit of the Drosophila engrailed locus: an unusually small portion of a 70,000 bp gene.
    EMBO J. 1987 Sep;6(9):2803-9 PMID: 2445563
  8. Position effect variegation and chromatin proteins.
    Bioessays. 1992 Sep;14(9):605-12 PMID: 1365916
  9. A gene product required for correct initiation of segmental determination in Drosophila.
    Nature. 1981 Sep 3;293(5827):36-41 PMID: 7266657
  10. Perturbation of nuclear architecture by long-distance chromosome interactions.
    Cell. 1996 May 31;85(5):745-59 PMID: 8646782
  11. Mutants affecting position-effect heterochromatinization in Drosophila melanogaster.
    Chromosoma. 1982;85(4):539-51 PMID: 6813058
  12. Gene expression. Chromatin contract to silence.
    Nature. 1990 Mar 15;344(6263):193-4 PMID: 2107401
  13. Unusual properties of regulatory DNA from the Drosophila engrailed gene: three "pairing-sensitive" sites within a 1.6-kb region.
    Genetics. 1994 Mar;136(3):1025-38 PMID: 8005412
  14. Position-effect variegation--an assay for nonhistone chromosomal proteins and chromatin assembly and modifying factors.
    Methods Cell Biol. 1991;35:587-627 PMID: 1685760
  15. Polyhomeotic: a gene of Drosophila melanogaster required for correct expression of segmental identity.
    Mol Gen Genet. 1985;198(2):213-20 PMID: 3920476
  16. Altered distributions of Ultrabithorax transcripts in extra sex combs mutant embryos of Drosophila.
    EMBO J. 1985 Dec 1;4(12):3259-64 PMID: 2419125
  17. Homeosis and the interaction of zeste and white in Drosophila.
    Mol Gen Genet. 1989 Sep;218(3):559-64 PMID: 2511424
  18. Polycomblike: a gene that appears to be required for the normal expression of the bithorax and antennapedia gene complexes of Drosophila melanogaster.
    Genetics. 1982 Sep;102(1):49-70 PMID: 6813190
  19. The effects of chromosome rearrangements on the expression of heterochromatic genes in chromosome 2L of Drosophila melanogaster.
    Genetics. 1990 May;125(1):141-54 PMID: 2111264
  20. Genetic analysis of the additional sex combs locus of Drosophila melanogaster.
    Genetics. 1992 Apr;130(4):817-25 PMID: 1349871
  21. Novel embryonic and adult homeotic phenotypes are produced by pleiohomeotic mutations in Drosophila.
    Dev Biol. 1994 Feb;161(2):393-407 PMID: 8313991
  22. Genetic modification of heterochromatic association and nuclear organization in Drosophila.
    Nature. 1996 Jun 6;381(6582):529-31 PMID: 8632827
  23. The enhancer of position-effect variegation of Drosophila, E(var)3-93D, codes for a chromatin protein containing a conserved domain common to several transcriptional regulators.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 Dec 1;90(23):11376-80 PMID: 8248257
  24. Position effect variegation in Drosophila is associated with an altered chromatin structure.
    Genes Dev. 1995 May 15;9(10):1263-77 PMID: 7758950
  25. Genetic analysis of the enhancer of zeste locus and its role in gene regulation in Drosophila melanogaster.
    Genetics. 1990 Sep;126(1):185-99 PMID: 1977656
  26. Mutations in polycombeotic, a Drosophila polycomb-group gene, cause a wide range of maternal and zygotic phenotypes.
    Genetics. 1990 May;125(1):91-101 PMID: 2341036
  27. Transcriptional activation of Drosophila homeotic genes from distant regulatory elements.
    Trends Genet. 1993 Mar;9(3):75-9 PMID: 8098166
  28. Mutations in the Drosophila melanogaster gene encoding S-adenosylmethionine synthetase [corrected] suppress position-effect variegation.
    Genetics. 1996 Jun;143(2):887-96 PMID: 8725236
  29. polyhomeotic: a gene required for the embryonic development of axon pathways in the central nervous system of Drosophila.
    Genes Dev. 1988 Jul;2(7):830-42 PMID: 2905316
  30. Dosage-dependent modifiers of position effect variegation in Drosophila and a mass action model that explains their effect.
    Genetics. 1988 Sep;120(1):181-98 PMID: 3146523
  31. A gene complex controlling segmentation in Drosophila.
    Nature. 1978 Dec 7;276(5688):565-70 PMID: 103000
  32. Position-effect variegation after 60 years.
    Trends Genet. 1990 Dec;6(12):422-6 PMID: 2087785
  33. The Trithorax-like gene encodes the Drosophila GAGA factor.
    Nature. 1994 Oct 27;371(6500):806-8 PMID: 7935842
  34. Mammalian homologues of the Polycomb-group gene Enhancer of zeste mediate gene silencing in Drosophila heterochromatin and at S. cerevisiae telomeres.
    EMBO J. 1997 Jun 2;16(11):3219-32 PMID: 9214638
  35. The Polycomb protein shares a homologous domain with a heterochromatin-associated protein of Drosophila.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Jan 1;88(1):263-7 PMID: 1898775
  36. The protein encoded by the Drosophila position-effect variegation suppressor gene Su(var)3-9 combines domains of antagonistic regulators of homeotic gene complexes.
    EMBO J. 1994 Aug 15;13(16):3822-31 PMID: 7915232
  37. Screen for enhancers of Polycomb and Polycomblike in Drosophila melanogaster.
    Dev Genet. 1994;15(5):425-34 PMID: 7955568
  38. A genetic analysis of intersex, a gene regulating sexual differentiation in Drosophila melanogaster females.
    Genetics. 1995 Apr;139(4):1649-61 PMID: 7789766
  39. Related chromosome binding sites for zeste, suppressors of zeste and Polycomb group proteins in Drosophila and their dependence on Enhancer of zeste function.
    EMBO J. 1993 Apr;12(4):1513-22 PMID: 8467801
  40. The genetics of position-effect variegation modifying loci in Drosophila melanogaster.
    Mol Gen Genet. 1989 Jun;217(2-3):520-7 PMID: 2505058
  41. Position-effect variegation and the new biology of heterochromatin.
    Curr Opin Genet Dev. 1994 Apr;4(2):281-91 PMID: 8032206
  42. The Polycomb and trithorax group proteins of Drosophila: trans-regulators of homeotic gene function.
    Annu Rev Genet. 1995;29:289-303 PMID: 8825476
  43. Homeogene expression patterns and chromosomal imprinting.
    Trends Genet. 1990 Jul;6(7):208-12 PMID: 1975137
  44. Chromosomal structure is altered by mutations that suppress or enhance position effect variegation.
    Chromosoma. 1990 Oct;99(6):391-400 PMID: 2125551
  45. Homoeosis in Drosophila: a new enhancer of polycomb and related homoeotic mutations.
    Genetics. 1983 Oct;105(2):357-70 PMID: 17246164
  46. Molecular characterisation of the Polycomblike gene of Drosophila melanogaster, a trans-acting negative regulator of homeotic gene expression.
    Development. 1994 Sep;120(9):2629-36 PMID: 7956837
  47. A gene that regulates the bithorax complex differentially in larval and adult cells of Drosophila.
    Cell. 1984 Jul;37(3):815-23 PMID: 6430566
  48. polyhomeotic regulatory sequences induce developmental regulator-dependent variegation and targeted P-element insertions in Drosophila.
    Genes Dev. 1993 Aug;7(8):1508-20 PMID: 8101825
  49. The polyhomeotic gene of Drosophila encodes a chromatin protein that shares polytene chromosome-binding sites with Polycomb.
    Genes Dev. 1992 Feb;6(2):223-32 PMID: 1346609
  50. Maternal expression of genes that regulate the bithorax complex of Drosophila melanogaster.
    Dev Biol. 1986 Dec;118(2):442-56 PMID: 3098596
  51. Dependence of position-effect variegation in Drosophila on dose of a gene encoding an unusual zinc-finger protein.
    Nature. 1990 Mar 15;344(6263):219-23 PMID: 2107402
  52. Polycomb and polyhomeotic are constituents of a multimeric protein complex in chromatin of Drosophila melanogaster.
    EMBO J. 1992 Aug;11(8):2941-50 PMID: 1353445
  53. A Polycomb response element in the Ubx gene that determines an epigenetically inherited state of repression.
    EMBO J. 1994 Jun 1;13(11):2553-64 PMID: 7912192
  54. Drosophila genes Posterior Sex Combs and Suppressor two of zeste encode proteins with homology to the murine bmi-1 oncogene.
    Nature. 1991 Sep 26;353(6342):351-3 PMID: 1833647
  55. Molecular cloning of engrailed: a gene involved in the development of pattern in Drosophila melanogaster.
    Cell. 1985 Aug;42(1):309-16 PMID: 2990728
  56. The Polycomb group gene Posterior Sex Combs encodes a chromosomal protein.
    Development. 1993 Feb;117(2):641-55 PMID: 7687213
  57. Mutation in a heterochromatin-specific chromosomal protein is associated with suppression of position-effect variegation in Drosophila melanogaster.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Dec;87(24):9923-7 PMID: 2124708
Article Info
Journal
Genetics
Abbr.
Genetics
ISSN
0016-6731
DOI
10.1093/genetics/148.1.211
Published
1998-01-00
Pages
211-20
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
0374636
PMCID
PMC1459761
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1093/genetics/148.1.211 PMC Full Text View journal details
Analysis Services
Analysis Services

Contact

No. 2 Wenbo Road, Zhangqiu District, Jinan, Shandong

Qilu Normal University · Genelibs Bioinformatics Lab

750 Shunhua Rd, Jinan

2F, Bldg F, University Science Park

Tel: 0531-88819269

WeChat Official Account

Follow our WeChat subscription account for real-time updates and the latest in medical and biological research.


Business Email

E-mail: [email protected]

Copyright © 2026.Genelibs Jinan Honghui Biotechnology Co., Ltd. 鲁ICP备20007159号-2