Fig. 3. Genomic structure of the cont locus and generation of cont mutants. (A) Based on the FlyBase genomic sequence information, the cont gene spans 5.7 kb. Comparison of the genomic (FlyBase) and cDNA (Accession Number AY229991) sequences revealed that the cont locus is composed of eight exons (black bars) with intronic sequences ranging from 53 to a maximum of 350 nucleotides. (B) Genomic map of 17 kb region that includes CG11739, cont and tube. The P element (KG9756) is inserted in the first intron of CG11739. cont is within 100 bp downstream of CG11739, followed by tube within 300 bp. These loci are unusually close to each other. A chromosomal deficiency Df(3R)XM3 that uncovers this region deletes cont and the neighboring loci. One of the imprecise excisions from KG9756 mobilization removes 5 kb of the genomic region resulting in the loss of CG11739 and cont. A 7 kb SpeI (Sp) genomic construct rescues the lethality of cont^ex956 to adulthood.