Abstract
THE variegated expression of genes is most often associated with a chromosomal rearrangement having one or both breakpoints within a heterochromatic region1–3 and as a result, the genes lying near the breakpoint are usually suppressed. In Drosophila melanogaster, the genes coding for ribosomal RNA (rRNA) at the nucleolus organiser region are also situated in heterochromatin4. Ribosomal genes which are not integrated into the DNA of the chromosome have been found in D. melanogaster females heterozygous for an X chromosome inversion which transposes the nucleolus organiser to the tip of the X (refs 5, 6). It was proposed that these unintegrated ribosomal genos (∼3×108 daltons) might be involved in position effect variegation5. This study was initiated to determine if a correlation exists between the presence of unintegrated ribosomal genes and the extent of position effect variegation in general. DNA from inversion-bearing male genotypes undergoing position-effect variegation was examined by sucrose gradient sedimentation and DNA–rRNA hybridisation. The resulting data further support a variegation association.
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ZUCHOWSKI-BERG, C. Unintegrated ribosomal genes and their relation to position effect variegation in Drosophila melanogaster. Nature 271, 60–61 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/271060a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/271060a0
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