| Abstract: | We recently identified a Drosophilagene, wings held out (who), that specifies a STAR(signal transduction and RNA activation) proteinexpressed within mesoderm and muscles. Genetic evidencesuggests that WHO regulates muscle development and functionin response to steroid hormone titer. who is related tothe mouse quaking gene, essential for embryogenesis andneural myelination, and gld-1, a nematode tumor suppressor gene necessary for oocytedifferentiation, both of which contain RNA binding maxi-KH domains presumed to link RNAmetabolism to cell signaling. To initiate a broaderstudy of Drosophila WHO related proteins we used degenerate primers encodingpeptides unique to maxi-KH domains to amplify thecorresponding genes. We recovered nine genes, allspecifying single maxi-KH domain proteins havingtripartite regions of similarity that extend over 200amino acids. One is located within the 54D chromosomesubdivision, and one within 58C, while the remainingseven are within the 58E subdivision. At least four of these STAR proteins are expressed in ageneral manner, suggesting that maxi-KH domains areemployed widely in Drosophila. |
