dELL, a drosophila homologue of transcription elongation factor ELL (Eleven-nineteen Lysine rich Leukemia), is required for early development.

Abstract

ELL (Eleven-nineteen Lysine rich Leukemia) is known to be an elongation factor resembling elongin for RNA polymerase II transcription. A homologue of human ELL (hELL) was identified in Drosophila melanogaster (dELL) and several cDNA clones were isolated from the embryonic cDNA library. We showed that dELL is expressed mainly in the ovaries and early embryonic stages by developmental Northern blot. dELL encodes a protein of 912 amino acids which is substantially longer than the hELL (612 aa). Immunostaining revealed that dELL was localized to nuclei in early embryos and to nuclei of nurse cells and follicle cells in the ovary suggesting its important role in early development of drosophila. To elucidate the function of this gene in drosophila, P-element mobilization was performed by utilizing a P-element inserted upstream of dELL. Southern analysis showed that isolated mutants are internal P-element deletions. These P-element deletions can now be used to isolate dELL mutations by EMS mutagenesis.

• Authors: Shahryar Khattak, Hogune Im, Taeju Park, Joohong Ahnn, Nikolaus A Spoerel
• Journal: Cell biochemistry and function (Cell Biochem Funct) Vol. 20 Issue 2 Pg. 119-27 (Jun 2002) ISSN: 0263-6484 [Print] England
• PMID: 11979508 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Chemical References

• DNA-Binding Proteins
• Drosophila Proteins
• Peptide Elongation Factors
• Su(Tpl) protein, Drosophila
• Transcription Factors

Topics

• Amino Acid Sequence
• Animals
• Cloning, Molecular
• DNA-Binding Proteins (biosynthesis, physiology)
• Drosophila Proteins (biosynthesis, genetics, physiology)
• Drosophila melanogaster (embryology, genetics, physiology)
• Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
• Humans
• Molecular Sequence Data
• Mutation
• Peptide Elongation Factors (genetics, physiology)
• Sequence Alignment
• Sequence Analysis, DNA
• Sequence Deletion (genetics, physiology)
• Transcription Factors (biosynthesis, physiology)