Analysis of sequences regulating larval expression of the Adh gene of Drosophila melanogaster

The effects of a series of eight, 50 base pair internal deletions in the 5' region upstream of the proximal transcription start site of the Adh gene of Drosophila melanogaster were examined in a quantitative assay. Mixtures of two plasmids, one bearing a deleted gene, the other with an intact reference gene, were injected into alcohol dehydrogenase-negative embryos. Third instar larvae of the injected generation were assayed for relative alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme activity. Quantitative analysis of the eight deletions indicated that two regions were required for any detectable enzyme activity and one region was required for appropriate tissue specificity. The remaining five deletions significantly decreased, but did not eliminate activity. When the deleted genes were placed on a plasmid with an intact reference gene, activities of all but one deletion were restored to levels equivalent to that of the intact reference gene (regardless of orientation). This restoration of activity did not occur when the regulatory region of the intact gene was replaced with the Hsp70 heat shock promoter nor when the 50-base pair deletion encompassed the region that includes the TATA sequence. The fact that seven of the eight deleted genes express activity in the presence of a reference gene on the same plasmid suggests that the deleted gene is controlled by regulatory elements in the reference gene. Further, these regulatory elements exhibit no preference for their own, more proximate, promoter.