. To better understand the role(s) of hnRNP proteins in the process of mRNA formation, we have identified and characterized the major nuclear proteins that interact with hnRNAs in Drosophila melanogaster. cDNA clones of several D. melanogaster hnRNP proteins have been isolated and sequenced, and the genes encoding these proteins have been mapped cytologically on polytene chromosomes . These include the hnRNP proteins hrp36, hrp40, and hrp48, which together account for the major proteins of hnRNP complexes in D. melanogaster (Matunis et al., 1992, accompanying paper) . All of the proteins described here contain two amino-terminal RNP consensus sequence RNA-binding domains and a carboxyl-terminal glycine-rich domain . We refer to this configuration, which is also found in the hnRNP A/B proteins of vertebrates, as 2XRBD-Gly. The sequences of the H ETEROGENEous nuclear RNAs (hnRNAs), from which mRNAs in eukaryotic cells are derived by RNA processing, are associated with specific nuclear proteins and form heterogeneous nuclear RNP (hnRNP)