Sequence organization of the Balbiani ring 2.1 gene in Chironomus tentans

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1992-05, Vol.89 (10), p.4578-4582
• Main Authors: Wieslander, L. (Medical Nobel Institute Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden), Paulsson, G
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; CAMPTOCHIRONOMUS TENTANS; Chironomidae; Chironomidae - genetics; Chironomus tentans; Chromosomal puffs; Chromosome Deletion; Chromosome Mapping; Cloning, Molecular; Complementary DNA; Diptera; DNA; DNA - genetics; DNA - isolation & purification; Exons; EXPRESION GENICA; EXPRESSION DES GENES; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes; Genes. Genome; Genetics; Genomics; Introns; Medical research; Messenger RNA; Molecular and cellular biology; Molecular genetics; Molecular Sequence Data; NUCLEOTIDE; NUCLEOTIDOS; Proteins; Restriction Mapping; RNA; RNA, Messenger - genetics
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.89.10.4578

Balbiani rings are giant chromosomal puffs, containing related genes that provide unique possibilities for in vivo analysis of gene expression at the chromatin and ribonucleoprotein levels. Here, the 5' end of the Balbiani ring 2.1 gene in the dipteran Chironomus tentans has been isolated and the sequence organization of the entire Balbiani ring gene is presented. The gene contains five exons, one being extremely small, only 6 base pairs, and one being extremely large, approximately 30 kilobase pairs. Three introns are located at the 5' end and a fourth one is located at the 3' end. The central 30-kilobase-pair exon is entirely built from tandemly organized repeats. All repeats are virtually identical except for a few variant repeats at both ends of the repeat array. The number of repeats may vary between alleles and the length of the gene therefore changes between 30 and 35 kilobase pairs