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Dosage compensation is transcriptionally regulated in autosomal trisomies of Drosophila

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Abstract

Drosophila melanogaster that are trisomic for an entire chromosome arm can survive to late stages of development. Some 2L-linked enzyme loci display diploid levels of gene product in trisomic-2L larvae. Measurements of transcription on the polytene chromosomes of these individuals reveal that this dosage compensation is mediated largely at the transcriptional level. Whereas compensating and noncompensating enzyme loci appeared to be regionally distributed along the chromosome arm, transcription rates observed in subdivisions of 2L do not support such a distribution. Measurements of mRNA levels for two genes within the duplicated region have shown that genes behave discretely in their response: either they compensate or they do not. If this is the case for all loci on 2L, then transcription autoradiographic measurements would suggest that approximately two-thirds of the loci on this arm compensate in trisomies. Normally, a positive correlation is found between the activity of X-chromosome transcription and the number of autosome sets present. However, in trisomic-2L salivary glands, no activation of X-linked gene transcription was observed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Boulevard, V6T 2A9, Vancouver, B.C., Canada

    Robert H. Devlin, Thomas A. Grigliatti & David G. Holm

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  1. Robert H. Devlin
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  2. Thomas A. Grigliatti
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  3. David G. Holm
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Devlin, R.H., Grigliatti, T.A. & Holm, D.G. Dosage compensation is transcriptionally regulated in autosomal trisomies of Drosophila . Chromosoma 91, 65–73 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00286486

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00286486

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