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A functional analysis of the genes Enhancer of split and HLH-m5 during early neurogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster

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Abstract

To assess the functional domains of the proteins encoded by E(spl) and HLH-m5, two genes of the Enhancer of split complex [E(SPL)-C] of Drosophila melanogaster, a number of variants have been made by in vitro mutagenesis, transformed into the germ line of the wild-type, and genetically combined with a chromosomal deletion lacking four of the genes of the E(SPL)-C. All constructs used attenuated the neurogenic phenotype associated with this deletion. However, constructs encoding proteins with truncated carboxy-termini exibited in all cases a higher activity than constructs encoding the full length version of the protein. Neutralization of the basic domain severely reduced, but did not completely abolish the rescuing activity of E(spl), while proteins in which a proline residue within the basic domain had been changed to either threonine or asparagine were slightly less efficient in their rescuing activity than the corresponding wild-type versions. We discuss the possible significance of these results for the function of the protein domains.

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Author notes

  1. Kyria Tietze

    Present address: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Division of Biology, 156-29 California Institute of Technology, 91125, Pasadena, CA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Entwicklungsbiologie, Universität zu Köln, D-50923, Köln, Germany

    Kyria Tietze, Herbert Schrons, José A. Campos-Ortega & Elisabeth Knust

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  1. Kyria Tietze
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  2. Herbert Schrons
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  3. José A. Campos-Ortega
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  4. Elisabeth Knust
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Tietze, K., Schrons, H., Campos-Ortega, J.A. et al. A functional analysis of the genes Enhancer of split and HLH-m5 during early neurogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster . Roux's Arch Dev Biol 203, 10–17 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00539885

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00539885

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