Summary
The position effect of In(l)wm4 on the inversion-bearing X chromosome was studied in salivary glands of wm4/YY, wm4/Y and wm4/0 larvae cultured at 25°C and 15°C. Heterochromatisation extended along not more than 6 bands, usually fewer. It occurred adjacent to the proximal inversion breakpoint but not the distal one, suggesting that the whole or part of the white locus lies within the inverted region. Several lines of evidence are consistent with the hypothesis that the distal breakpoint is within the locus, separating a regulatory from a structural subunit.
The Y chromosome constitution markedly affected the proportion of cells exhibiting heterochromatisation, which ranged from 0 per cent in wm4/YY larvae reared at 25°C to 22·4 per cent in wm4/0 larvae reared at 15°C. Comparison of the data with our previous findings on white-variegation in larval Malpighian tubules and adult eyes showed good correlation between the proportion of affected cells in salivary glands and Malpighian tubules but the eyes were relatively more affected. These differences between larval and adult tissues might point to a relationship between the developmental stage at which an organ is determined and the degree to which it is affected by the inversion.
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Koliantz, G., Hartmann-Goldstein, I. Modification of gene suppression in Drosophila melanogaster by sex chromosomes 3. Heterochromatisation associated with the wm4 phenotype. Heredity 53, 215–222 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1984.77
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1984.77