Biggs J, Tripoulas N, Hersperger E, Dearolf C, Shearn A
Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218.
Genes Dev. 1988 Oct;2(10):1333-43. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.10.1333.
The third-chromosome mutation Killer of prune (K-pn) causes no phenotype by itself, but causes lethality in individuals homozygous for the nonlethal X-chromosome mutation prune (pn). We have recovered 12 gamma-ray-induced revertants of Killer of prune. All of the revertants fail to complement a recessive cell lethal mutation in the abnormal wing discs (awd) gene. We present evidence that Killer of prune is a mutation in the awd gene. First, revertant awdKR14 leads to reduced accumulation of the awd gene product, but does not affect flanking genes. Second, when a copy of the awd gene is cloned from Killer of prune homozygous flies and injected into embryos, transformants express the lethal interaction with prune. In individuals of the genotype pn; awdK-pn/awd+ the awd mRNA is present at normal levels but the awd polypeptide fails to accumulate. The absence of the awd gene product in such individuals is the cause of death. Although the awd polypeptide is a subunit of a cytoplasmic protein, its sequence is similar to subunit V of yeast cytochrome oxidase.
三号染色体突变体“梅干杀手”（K-pn）本身不产生表型，但会导致非致死性X染色体突变体“梅干”（pn）的纯合个体死亡。我们已获得12个经伽马射线诱导的“梅干杀手”回复体。所有回复体均不能与异常翅盘（awd）基因中的隐性细胞致死突变互补。我们提供证据表明“梅干杀手”是awd基因中的一个突变。首先，回复体awdKR14导致awd基因产物积累减少，但不影响侧翼基因。其次，当从“梅干杀手”纯合果蝇中克隆一份awd基因并注射到胚胎中时，转化体表现出与“梅干”的致死相互作用。在基因型为pn; awdK-pn/awd+的个体中，awd mRNA水平正常，但awd多肽未能积累。此类个体中awd基因产物的缺失是死亡原因。尽管awd多肽是一种细胞质蛋白的亚基，但其序列与酵母细胞色素氧化酶的亚基V相似。
