Molecular cloning and preliminary characterization of a Drosophila melanogaster gene from a region adjacent to the centromeric beta-heterochromatin.

Using recombinant DNA technology we have isolated a 4.4 kb DNA fragment from Drosophila melanogaster which can be localized by in situ hybridization to the region 80C on the left arm of chromosome III. This DNA fragment codes for a 1.4 kb long poly(A)-containing RNA which comprises about 0.6% of the mass of cytoplasmic poly(A) RNA in Kc cells and Oregon R Embryos. This RNA codes for a 26,000 MW protein of still unknown function.