Sex-specific regulation of the male-specific lethal-1 dosage compensation gene in Drosophila.
Open Access
- 15 March 1994
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Genes & Development
- Vol. 8 (6), 698-706
- https://doi.org/10.1101/gad.8.6.698
Abstract
Dosage compensation in Drosophila occurs by a twofold increase in transcription per copy of X-linked genes in males (XY) compared with females (XX). msl-1 is one of four genes that are essential for dosage compensation in males, and MSL-1 protein is associated specifically with the male X chromosome. To explore the basis for the sex specificity of dosage compensation, we examined MSL-1 expression in males, females, and dosage compensation mutants. MSL-1 protein levels are negatively regulated by Sxl in females, resulting in male-specific expression of MSL-1. In addition, msl-2 is required for translation and/or stability of MSL-1 in males. Furthermore, the wild-type pattern of MSL-1 localization to the X chromosome is dependent on mle and msl-3 function, although a subset of sites are stained with MSL-1 antibodies in these mutants. Collectively, these data provide the first evidence for an order of msl gene function and suggest that male-specific expression of MSL-1 plays a key role in the sex specificity of dosage compensation.Keywords
This publication has 31 references indexed in Scilit:
- X chromosome dosage compensation in DrosophilaSeminars in Developmental Biology, 1993
- Unwinding dosage compensationCell, 1993
- The maleless protein associates with the X chromosome to regulate dosage compensation in drosophilaCell, 1991
- Sex-specific alternative splicing of RNA from the transformer gene results from sequence-dependent splice site blockageCell, 1989
- Molecular cloning of cDNA for CENP-B, the major human centromere autoantigenThe Journal of cell biology, 1987
- Gene Dosage Compensation in Drosophila MelanogasterAdvances in genetics, 1987
- Oncogenic intelligence: From c-fos to v-fosNature, 1984
- Studies on the sex-specific lethals of Drosophila melanogaster. VIII. Enhancement and suppression of Sxl expression by mle(3)132.The Japanese Journal of Genetics, 1984
- Intersexuality resulting from the interaction of sex-specific lethal mutations in Drosophila melanogasterDevelopmental Biology, 1982
- The X-chromosome in the larval salivary glands of hybrids Drosophila insularis × Drosophila tropicalisChromosoma, 1956