Molecular analysis of the Methoprene-tolerant gene region of Drosophila melanogaster.

Adult functions of juvenile hormone (JH) have been described for Drosophila melanogaster and other dipteran insects, but preadult function for this hormone remains largely unknown in this order of insects. We have identified a mutation of Drosophila, Methoprene-tolerant (Met), which appears to alter JH reception during late larval development. The molecular cloning of Met will be a step toward understanding this gene and possibly identifying a preadult role(s) for JH. Molecular cloning was initiated using the technique of transposon-tagging with a transposable P element. P-element insertional alleles of Met were generated, and genomic libraries were constructed from two of these alleles. From these libraries P-element-bearing clones were isolated that in situ hybridized to the cytogenetic region where Met had been previously localized by genetic methods. Two of the alleles were shown to have complete P-elements inserted in similar, but not identical, locations in the predicted cytogenetic region where Met is located. A late-larval cDNA library was screened to identify transcriptional units in this region, and clones were recovered with homology to a DNA fragment abutting the P-element insertion site. These clones may represent Met cDNA molecules.