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The ThioredoxinT and deadhead gene pair encode testis- and ovary-specific thioredoxins in Drosophila melanogaster

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Abstract

So far, two thioredoxin proteins, DHD and Trx-2, have been biochemically characterized in Drosophila melanogaster. Here, with the cloning and characterization of TrxT we describe an additional thioredoxin with testis-specific expression. TrxT and dhd are arranged as a gene pair, transcribed in opposite directions and sharing a 471 bp regulatory region. We show that this regulatory region is sufficient for correct expression of the two genes. This gene pair makes a good model for unraveling how closely spaced promoters are differentially regulated by a short common control region. Both TrxT and DHD proteins are localized within the nuclei in testes and ovaries, respectively. Use of a transgenic construct expressing TrxT fused to Enhanced Yellow Fluorescent Protein reveals a clear association of TrxT with the Y chromosome lampbrush loops ks-1 and kl-5 in primary spermatocytes. The association is lost in the absence of the Y chromosome. Our results suggest that nuclear thioredoxins may have regulatory functions in the germline.

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Acknowledgements

We thank K. Kristiansson for excellent technical assistance, H. Salz for providing dhd genomic DNA clones and fly stocks, M. Gatti for Y chromosome translocation stocks and for help in confirming the identity of Y chromosome loops, H. Bauer for Trx-2 antibodies, and A. Miranda-Vizuete and A. Saura for comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council, Nilsson-Ehle, Magnus Bergvall and Philip Sörenssen foundations to J.L., by EMBO Short Term Fellowships to J.L. and by a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation to V.P.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UCMP, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden

    Malin J. Svensson & Jan Larsson

  2. Department of Pharmacology, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 675 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA

    J. Don Chen

  3. Department of Zoology, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland

    Vincenzo Pirrotta

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  1. Malin J. Svensson
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  2. J. Don Chen
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  3. Vincenzo Pirrotta
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  4. Jan Larsson
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Correspondence to Jan Larsson.

Additional information

Communicated by S. Henikoff

Sequence data from this paper have been deposited with the EMBL/GenBank Data Libraries under Accession number AJ507731

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Svensson, M.J., Chen, J.D., Pirrotta, V. et al. The ThioredoxinT and deadhead gene pair encode testis- and ovary-specific thioredoxins in Drosophila melanogaster . Chromosoma 112, 133–143 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-003-0253-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00412-003-0253-5

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