Development, Vol 126, Issue 19 4281-4293, Copyright © 1999 by Company of Biologists

JOURNAL ARTICLES

The Drosophila chiffon gene is required for chorion gene amplification, and is related to the yeast Dbf4 regulator of DNA replication and cell cycle

G Landis and J Tower
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1340, USA.

The Drosophila chorion genes encode the major protein components of the chorion (eggshell) and are arranged in two clusters in the genome. To meet the demand for rapid chorion synthesis, Drosophila ovary follicle cells amplify the chorion gene clusters approximately 80-fold. Amplification proceeds through repeated firing of one or more DNA replication origins located near the center of each gene cluster. Hypomorphic mutant alleles of the chiffon gene cause thin, fragile chorions and female sterility, and were found to eliminate chorion gene amplification. Null alleles of chiffon had the additional phenotypes of rough eyes and thin thoracic bristles: phenotypes often associated with disruption of normal cell cycle. The chiffon locus was cloned by chromosomal walking from the nearby cactus locus. A 6.5 kb transcript was identified and confirmed to be chiffon by sequencing of mutant alleles and by phenotypic rescue with genomic transformation constructs. The protein predicted by translation of the 5.1 kb chiffon ORF contains two domains related to the S. cerevisiae Dbf4 regulator of DNA replication origin firing and cell cycle progression: a 44 residue domain designated CDDN1 (43% identical) and a 41 residue domain designated CDDN2 (12% identical). The CDDN domains were also found in the S. pombe homolog of Dbf4, Dfp1, as well as in the proteins predicted by translation of the Aspergillus nimO gene and specific human and mouse clones. The data suggest a family of eukaryotic proteins related to Dbf4 and involved in initiation of DNA replication.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. R. Calvi, B. A. Byrnes, and A. J. Kolpakas Conservation of Epigenetic Regulation, ORC Binding and Developmental Timing of DNA Replication Origins in the Genus Drosophila Genetics, November 1, 2007; 177(3): 1291 - 1301. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. A. Park, D. M. MacAlpine, and T. L. Orr-Weaver Inaugural Article: Drosophila follicle cell amplicons as models for metazoan DNA replication: A cyclinE mutant exhibits increased replication fork elongation PNAS, October 23, 2007; 104(43): 16739 - 16746. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Gabrielse, C. T. Miller, K. H. McConnell, A. DeWard, C. A. Fox, and M. Weinreich A Dbf4p BRCA1 C-Terminal-Like Domain Required for the Response to Replication Fork Arrest in Budding Yeast Genetics, June 1, 2006; 173(2): 541 - 555. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. R. May, M. Thomer, K. F. Murnen, and B. R. Calvi Levels of the origin-binding protein Double parked and its inhibitor Geminin increase in response to replication stress J. Cell Sci., September 15, 2005; 118(18): 4207 - 4217. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. E. Varrin, A. A. Prasad, R.-P. Scholz, M. D. Ramer, and B. P. Duncker A Mutation in Dbf4 Motif M Impairs Interactions with DNA Replication Factors and Confers Increased Resistance to Genotoxic Agents Mol. Cell. Biol., September 1, 2005; 25(17): 7494 - 7504. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. L. Beall, M. Bell, D. Georlette, and M. R. Botchan Dm-myb mutant lethality in Drosophila is dependent upon mip130: positive and negative regulation of DNA replication Genes & Dev., July 15, 2004; 18(14): 1667 - 1680. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Zhang and J. Tower Sequence requirements for function of the Drosophila chorion gene locus ACE3 replicator and ori-{beta} origin elements Development, May 1, 2004; 131(9): 2089 - 2099. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Cayirlioglu, W. O. Ward, S. C. Silver Key, and R. J. Duronio Transcriptional Repressor Functions of Drosophila E2F1 and E2F2 Cooperate To Inhibit Genomic DNA Synthesis in Ovarian Follicle Cells Mol. Cell. Biol., March 15, 2003; 23(6): 2123 - 2134. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. P. Duncker, K. Shimada, M. Tsai-Pflugfelder, P. Pasero, and S. M. Gasser An N-terminal domain of Dbf4p mediates interaction with both origin recognition complex (ORC) and Rad53p and can deregulate late origin firing PNAS, December 10, 2002; 99(25): 16087 - 16092. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. M. Claycomb, D. M. MacAlpine, J. G. Evans, S. P. Bell, and T. L. Orr-Weaver Visualization of replication initiation and elongation in Drosophila J. Cell Biol., October 28, 2002; 159(2): 225 - 236. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. D. Fung, J. Ou, S. Bueler, and G. W. Brown A Conserved Domain of Schizosaccharomyces pombe dfp1+ Is Uniquely Required for Chromosome Stability following Alkylation Damage during S Phase Mol. Cell. Biol., July 1, 2002; 22(13): 4477 - 4490. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Schwed, N. May, Y. Pechersky, and B. R. Calvi Drosophila Minichromosome Maintenance 6 Is Required for Chorion Gene Amplification and Genomic Replication Mol. Biol. Cell, February 1, 2002; 13(2): 607 - 620. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Cayirlioglu, P. C. Bonnette, M. R. Dickson, and R. J. Duronio Drosophila E2f2 promotes the conversion from genomic DNA replication to gene amplification in ovarian follicle cells Development, December 15, 2001; 128(24): 5085 - 5098. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Lu, H. Zhang, and J. Tower Functionally distinct, sequence-specific replicator and origin elements are required for Drosophila chorion gene amplification Genes & Dev., January 15, 2001; 15(2): 134 - 146. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				A. Bielinsky and S. Gerbi Where it all starts: eukaryotic origins of DNA replication J. Cell Sci., January 2, 2001; 114(4): 643 - 651. [Abstract] [PDF]

				H. A. Snaith, G. W. Brown, and S. L. Forsburg Schizosaccharomyces pombe Hsk1p Is a Potential Cds1p Target Required for Genome Integrity Mol. Cell. Biol., November 1, 2000; 20(21): 7922 - 7932. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				A. J. Whittaker, I. Royzman, and T. L. Orr-Weaver Drosophila Double parked: a conserved, essential replication protein that colocalizes with the origin recognition complex and links DNA replication with mitosis and the down-regulation of S phase transcripts Genes & Dev., July 15, 2000; 14(14): 1765 - 1776. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				R. Sclafani Cdc7p-Dbf4p becomes famous in the cell cycle J. Cell Sci., January 6, 2000; 113(12): 2111 - 2117. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. C. Spradling ORC binding, gene amplification, and the nature of metazoan replication origins Genes & Dev., October 15, 1999; 13(20): 2619 - 2623. [Full Text]