The 5S genes of drosophila melanogaster

Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas, Paul Schedl, Christian Tschudi, Vincenzo Pirrotta, Ruth Steward, Walter J. Gehring

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

67 Scopus citations

Abstract

We have cloned embryonic Drosophila DNA using the poly (dA-dT) connector method (Lobban and Kaiser, 1973) and the ampicillin-resistant plasmid pSF2124 (So, Gill and Falkow, 1975) as a cloning vehicle. Two clones, containing hybrid plasmids with sequences complementary to a 5S RNA probe isolated from Drosophila tissue culture cells, were identified by the Grunstein and Hogness (1975) colony hybridization procedure. One hybrid plasmid has a Drosophila insert which is comprised solely of tandem repeats of the 5S gene plus spacer sequences. The other plasmid contains an insert which has about 20 tandem 5S repeat units plus an additional 4 kilobases of adjacent sequences. The size of the 5S repeat unit was determined by gel electrophoresis and was found to be approximately 375 base pairs. We present a restriction map of both plasmids, and a detailed map of the 5S repeat unit. The 5S repeat unit shows slight length and sequence heterogeneity. We present evidence suggesting that the 5S genes in Drosophila melanogaster may be arranged in a single continuous cluster.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1057-1067
Number of pages11
JournalCell
Volume12
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1977
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

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