Summary
The strain of Drosophila melanogaster carrying the inversion In(1)w m4, which juxtaposes the normal w + gene to the centromeric heterochromatin, variegates for pigmentation in the eye. This strain was treated with various concentrations of n-butyrate and n-proprionate during the embryonic and larval stages. Concentrations as low as 70mM markedly suppress the variegated eye phenotype. This suggests that non-acetylated histones play a major role in the phenomenon of position-effect variegation.
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Communicated by W. Gehring
This research was supported by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Canada team grant A-1764 to T.A.G. and D.T. Suzuki, and Natural, Applied & Health Sciences grant 9704 to T.A.G.
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Reeves, R., Mottus, R. & Grigliatti, T.A. Butyrate suppression of position-effect variegation in Drosophila melanogaster . Molec. Gen. Genet. 178, 465–469 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00270501
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00270501