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Molecular and Cellular Biology, November 1998, p. 6505-6514, Vol. 18, No. 11
0270-7306/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Two Alternatively Spliced Transcripts from the Drosophila period Gene Rescue Rhythms Having Different Molecular and Behavioral Characteristics

Yuzhong Cheng,1,dagger Barbara Gvakharia,1,Dagger and Paul E. Hardin2,*

Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843,1 and Department of Biology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 772042

Received 6 May 1998/Returned for modification 26 June 1998/Accepted 10 August 1998

The period (per) and timeless (tim) genes encode key components of the circadian oscillator in Drosophila melanogaster. The per gene is thought to encode three transcripts via differential splicing (types A, B, and C) that give rise to three proteins. Since the three per mRNA types were based on the analysis of cDNA clones, we tested whether these mRNA types were present in vivo by RNase protection assays and reverse transcriptase-mediated PCR. The results show that per generates two transcript types that differ only by the presence (type A) or absence (type B') of an alternative intron in the 3' untranslated region. Transgenic flies containing transgenes that produce only type B' transcripts (perB'), type A transcripts (perA), or both transcripts (perG) rescue locomotor activity rhythms with average periods of 24.7, 25.4, and 24.4 h, respectively. Although no appreciable differences in type A and type B' mRNA cycling were observed, a slower accumulation of PER in flies making only type A transcripts suggests that the intron affects the translation of per mRNA.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204. Phone: (713) 743-2652. Fax: (713) 743-2636. E-mail: phardin{at}uh.edu.

dagger Present address: Department of Cell Biology and Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.

Dagger Present address: Department of Entomology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, November 1998, p. 6505-6514, Vol. 18, No. 11
0270-7306/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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