P element regulatory products enhance zeste repression of a P[white duplicated] transgene in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Drosophila P element mobilization is subject to a complex array of regulatory mechanisms. A fruitful approach to study them is the use of insertion mutations whose expression is influenced by P regulation. In the present report, it is shown that P element somatic products may influence the expression of an unrelated gene inserted in a P transposon. The P[wdl9.3]19De transgene carriers an in vitro modified white gene harboring a duplication of the 5' regulatory sequences. Expression of this transgene is repressed in a P background. No maternal effect is detected and repression can be relieved as soon as P chromosomes are replaced by M ones. The amplitude of repression is correlated to the P transposase activity of the individuals examined. Repression appears to be exerted by somatic products of complete autonomous P elements or of in vitro modified P elements lacking the capacity to express the fourth P exon. The P repression of P[wdl9.3]19DE is strongly dependent on the insertion site of this transgene. This P repression effect occurs only in the presence of the zeste allele and is suppressed by Su(z)2 mutations. No qualitative differences of transcription pattern are observed between white+ and P[wdl9.3]19DE in any backgrounds. P repression acts to reduce the amount of the major white transcript. This suggests that P regulatory products may act through cis-interactions at a distance of over 3 kb.