Delta, a Drosophila neurogenic gene, is transcriptionally complex and encodes a protein related to blood coagulation factors and epidermal growth factor of vertebrates

• Published in: Genes & development Vol. 2; no. 12B; pp. 1723 - 1735
• Main Authors: KOPCZYNSKI, C. C, ALTON, A. K, FECHTEL, K, KOOH, P. J, MUSKAVITCH, M. A. T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cold Spring Harbor, NY Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 01-12-1988
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Blood Coagulation Factors - genetics; Drosophila melanogaster; Drosophila melanogaster - embryology; Drosophila melanogaster - genetics; Drosophilidae; Epidermal Growth Factor - genetics; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes; Genes. Genome; Immunoblotting; Membrane Proteins - genetics; Molecular and cellular biology; Molecular genetics; Molecular Sequence Data; Neurons - embryology; Species Specificity; Transcription, Genetic; Vertebrates - genetics; Brain; Molecular hybridization; Ectoderm; Transcription; Insecta; Proteins; Factor IX; Epidermal growth factor; Messenger RNA; Gene; Molecular cloning; Southern blotting; Aminoacid sequence; Embryonic development; Splicing; Nucleotide sequence; Gene organization; Cell differentiation; Gene expression; Drosophilidae; Northern blotting; Complementary DNA; Arthropoda; Polyadenylation; Invertebrata; Drosophila melanogaster; Diptera
• ISSN: 0890-9369; 1549-5477
• DOI: 10.1101/gad.2.12b.1723

Delta (D1) is required for normal segregation of the embryonic ectoderm into neural and epidermal cell lineages in Drosophila melanogaster. Loss-of-function mutations in D1 and other zygotic neurogenic loci lead to expansion of the neuroblast population at the expense of the dermoblast population within the ectoderm. Characterization of the transcriptional organization and maternal/embryonic expression within the chromosomal interval corresponding to D1 reveals that the locus encodes multiple transcripts: a minimum of two maternal transcripts, approximately 4.5 and 3.6 kb in length, and four zygotic transcripts, approximately 5.4 (two distinct species), 3.5, and 2.8 kb in length. These transcripts differ on the bases of differential splicing and differential polyadenylation site choice. The DNA sequence of a cDNA clone representing the predominant transcripts of the locus indicates that D1 encodes a transmembrane protein homologous to blood coagulation factors and epidermal growth factor. The relationship between coding sequences and transcript-specific exons within the locus suggests that D1 encodes multiple translational products.