Structure and expression of the Drosophila ubiquitin-52-amino-acid fusion-protein gene

Abstract

Ubiquitin belongs to a multigene family. In Drosophila two members of this family have been previously described. We report here the organization and expression of a third member, the DUb52 gene, isolated by screening a Drosophila melanogaster genomic library. This gene encodes an ubiquitin monomer fused to a 52-amino acid extension protein. There are no introns interrupting the coding sequence. Recently, it has been described that this extension encodes a ribosomal protein in Saccharomyces, Dictyostelium, and Arabidopsis. The present results show that the 5′ regulatory region of DUb52 shares common features with the ribosomal protein genes of Drosophila, Xenopus and mouse, including GC- and pyrimidine-rich regions. Moreover, sequences similar to the consensus Ribo-box in Neurospora crassa have been identified. Furthermore, a sequence has been found that is similar to the binding site for the TFIIIA distal element factor from Xenopus laevis. The DUb52 gene is transcribed to a 0.9 kb mRNA that is expressed constitutively throughout development and is particularly abundant in ovaries. In addition, the DUb52 gene has been found to be preferentially transcribed in exponentially growing Drosophila cells.

Validation of novel promoter sequences derived from two endogenous ubiquitin genes in transgenic Aedes aegypti

“…Five genes on four supercontigs were identified with an e ‐value of less than 1e‐30. Genes AAEL006511 (supercont1.209) and AAEL013536 (supercont1.864) both contained a single ubiquitin monomer and appeared to be homologues of the Drosophila Ub L40 (Ub52) and Ub S27 (Ub80) ribosomal fusion genes (Lee et al ., 1988; Cabrera et al ., 1992). These genes are both well conserved among eukaryotes, and consist of a ubiquitin monomer fused to the ribosomal proteins L40 or S27 (Finley et al ., 1989).…”

“…The D. melanogaster Ub L40 gene was also found to be expressed preferentially in ovaries (Cabrera et al ., 1992). However, these researchers found that in the fly Ub L40 mRNA expression remained constant throughout development (Cabrera et al ., 1992). Endogenous PUb mRNA expression was fairly uniform throughout development and in specific tissues (Fig.…”

The polyubiquitin gene of the mosquito Anopheles gambiae: structure and expression

“…The other ubiquitin fusion gene Ubi-f52 is reported to map to division 97A of chromosome 3R (Barrio, GenBank accession no. S45089; Cabrera et a/., 1992). It has been suggested that the differences in codon choice and in gene expression pattern between polyubiquitin and ubiquitin fusion genes are reflected by the differences in the chromosomal environments in which the genes are located (Mita eta/., 1991).…”

“…Ubiquitin genes have been identified and sequenced from representatives of several diverse groups of organisms, including three different insect species. In Drosophila both polyubiquitin Ubi-p (Izquierdo eta/., 1984;Lee eta/., 1988) and two unique ubiquitin fusion genes, Ubi-f80 (Lee et a/., 1988) and Ubi-f52 (Cabrera et a/., 1992), have been cloned and sequenced. Similarly in the tobacco hawkmoth Manduca sexta a polyubiquitin gene (Schwartz eta/., 1990) and a fusion protein form of the gene UBf80 (Bishoff & Schwartz, 1990) have also been reported.…”

Application of ubiquitin SSCP analysis in taxonomic studies within the subgenus Orinocarabus (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Carabus)

“…One class comprises two types of fusion genes, encoding a single ubiquitinjoined to a ribosomal protein (Swindle et al, 1988;Cabrera et al, 1992;Barrio et al, 1994). The other class consists of polyubiquitin genes, which contain ubiquitin repeats in tandem (Wiborg et al, 1985).…”