1. Vinculin gene is non-essential in Drosophila melanogaster
- Author
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Irina A. Kramerova, Sergey Lavrov, Elena D Westphal, Vladimir E. Alatortsev, and Maxim V Frolov
- Subjects
animal structures ,X Chromosome ,Protein homology ,Integrin ,Molecular Sequence Data ,Restriction Mapping ,Biophysics ,Gene Dosage ,Genes, Insect ,macromolecular substances ,DNA, Satellite ,Biochemistry ,Structural Biology ,Genetics ,Melanogaster ,Coding region ,Animals ,Amino Acid Sequence ,RNA, Messenger ,Cytoskeleton ,Molecular Biology ,X chromosome ,Chromosome rearrangement ,biology ,Base Sequence ,Sequence Homology, Amino Acid ,Vinculin function ,Cell Biology ,Vinculin ,biology.organism_classification ,Actin cytoskeleton ,Drosophila melanogaster ,Fertility ,Mutation ,biology.protein - Abstract
Vinculin is thought to be an important cytoskeletal protein in the linkage between actin cytoskeleton and integrin transmembrane receptors. We identified Vinculin (Vinc) gene in the X chromosome of D. melanogaster. Drosophila vinculin is highly homologous in its N- and C-terminal domains both to mammalian and nematode vinculins, and contains internal repeats and proline-rich region typical for vinculins. The X chromosome rearrangement In(1LR)pn2a was found to disrupt Vinc so that the coding sequence is interrupted by the (AAGAG)n satellite DNA. Northern analysis revealed that the Vinc transcript is completely absent in the In(1LR)pn2a homozygous flies. Surprisingly, these Vinc flies are viable and fertile. This finding highlights plasticity and adaptive capacity of cellular cytoskeletal and anchorage system.
- Published
- 1997