Abstract
It is reported that chromatin can be prepared from highly purified polytene nuclei from the salivary glands of third instar larvae of Drosophila hydei; such chromatin differs from that of diploid nuclei mainly by deficiencies in certain nonhistone chromosomal proteins. It is suggested that these proteins are important components of constitutive heterochromatin, which is severely underrepresented in polytene chromosomes. Chromosome morphology, including the pattern of induced puffs, is maintained throughout the mass isolation of glands and sucrose gradient purification of nuclei, as indicated by studies on temperature-shocked and control larvae. No significant alteration in the chromosomal proteins following puff induction by heat shock could be detected on analysis of the isolated protein fractions by disc gel electrophoresis. More sensitive techniques must be developed to study the apparent rearrangement or accumulation of protein at puff sites, and to elucidate the role of this protein in gene activation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berendes, H. D.: Salivary gland function and chromosomal puffing patterns in Drosophila hydei. Chromosoma (Berl.) 17, 35–77 (1965)
Berendes, H. D.: Synthetic activity of polytene chromosomes. Int. Rev. Cytol. 35, 61–116 (1973)
Berendes, H. D., Boyd, J. B.: Structural and functional properties of polytene nuclei isolated from salivary glands of Drosophila hydei. J. Cell Biol. 41, 591–599 (1969)
Bonner, J., Chalkley, G. R., Dahmus, M., Fujimura, F., Huang, R. C., Huberman, J., Jensen, R., Marushige, K., Ohlenbusch, H., Olivera, B., Widholm, J.: Isolation and characterization of chromosomal nucleoproteins. Methods in enzymology 12B, 3–65 (1968)
Boyd, J. B.: Mass isolation of salivary glands from larvae of Drosophila hydei. In: The genetics and biol. of Drosophila (in press, 1975a)
Boyd, J. B.: Isolation and experimental manipulation of polytene nuclei of Drosophila. Methods in cell physiology 10, 135–146 (1975b)
Boyd, J. B., Berendes, H. D., Boyd, H.: Mass preparation of nuclei from the larval salivary glands of Drosophila hydei. J. Cell Biol. 38, 369–376 (1968)
Boyd, J. B., Presley, J. M.: DNA synthesis in isolated polytene nuclei of Drosophila hydei. Biochem. Genet. 9, 309–325 (1973)
Bradbury, E. M.: Forward: Histone nomenclature. Ciba Foundation Symp. 28, 1–4. Amsterdam: Asso. Sci. Pub., P.O. Box 211, 1975
Cohen, L. H., Gotchel, B. V.: Histones of polytene and nonpolytene nuclei of Drosophila melanogaster. J. biol. Chem. 246, 1841–1848 (1971)
Elgin, S. C. R., Bonner, J.: Limited heterogeneity of the major nonhistone chromosomal proteins. Biochemistry (Wash.) 9, 4440–4447 (1970)
Elgin, S. C. R., Boyd, J. B., Hood, L. E., Wray, W., Wu, F. C.: A proloque to the study of the nonhistone chromosomal proteins. Cold. Spr. Harb. Symp. quant. Biol. 38, 821–833 (1973)
Elgin, S. C. R., Hood, L. E.: Chromosomal proteins of Drosophila embryos. Biochemistry (Wash.) 12, 4984–4991 (1973)
Elgin, S. C. R., Weintraub, H.: Chromosomal proteins and chromatin structure. Ann. Rev. Biochem. 44 (in press, 1975)
Helmsing, P. J.: Induced accumulation of nonhistone proteins in polytene nuclei of Drosophila hydei. II. Accumulation of proteins in polytene nuclei and chromatin of different larval tissues. Cell Differentiation 1, 19–24 (1972)
Helmsing, P. J., Berendes, H. D.: Induced accumulation of nonhistone proteins in polytene nuclei of Drosophila hydei. J. Cell Biol. 50, 893–896 (1971)
Helmsing, P. J., Eupen, O. van: Chromatin of Drosophila: Isolation and Characterization of chromatin of two larval cell types. Biochim. biophys. Acta (Amst.) 308, 154–160 (1973)
Hennig, W., Meer, B.: Reduced polytene of ribosomal RNA cistrons in giant chromosomes of Drosophila hydei. Nature (Lond.) New Biol. 233, 70–72 (1971)
Holt, Th. K. H.: Local protein accumulation during gene activation. II. Interferometric measurements of the amount of solid material in temperature induced puffs of Drosophila hydei. Chromosoma (Berl.) 32, 428–435 (1971)
Laemmli, U. K.: Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature (Lond.) 227, 680–685 (1970)
Leenders, H. J., Wullens, G. J., Berendes, H. D.: Competitive interaction of cAMP on gene activation by ecdysterone. Exp. Cell Res. 63, 159–164 (1970)
Mulder, M. P., Duijn, P. van, Gloor, H. J.: The replicative organization of DNA in polytene chromosomes of Drosophila hydei. Genetica ('s-Gravenhage) 39, 385–428 (1968)
Rudkin, G. T.: Replication in polytene chromosomes. In: Developmental studies on giant chromosomes (W. Beermann, ed.), p. 58–85. Berlin-Heidelberg-New York: Springer 1972
Shapiro, A. L., Vinuela, E., Maizel, J. V.: Molecular weight estimation of polypeptide chains by electrophoresis in SDS-polyacrylamide gels. Biochem. biophys. Res. Commun. 28, 815–820 (1967)
Wu, F. C., Elgin, S. C. R., Hood, L. E.: Nonhistone chromosomal proteins of rat tissues: A comparative study by gel electrophoresis. Biochemistry 12, 2792–2797 (1973)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Elgin, S.C.R., Boyd, J.B. The proteins of polytene chromosomes of Drosophila hydei . Chromosoma 51, 135–145 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00319831
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00319831