Developmental control of transduced dopa decarboxylase genes in D. melanogaster

Seventeen new euchromatic integration sites of the dopa-decarboxylase gene (Ddc) have been generated using p-mediated transduction. The developmental expression of the integrated genes was examined by monitoring the embryonic induction of dopa decarboxylase enzyme activity (DDC) and by monitoring the developmental pattern of DDC activity from late third instar to eclosion. The majority of inserts are regulated correctly within about 30% of controls. Several cases of multiple insertion events were recovered and these show correspondingly elevated levels of activity and are regulated normally. The pattern of expression of one insert (15C) falls outside the normal range. Multiple copies of transduced Ddc genes are used to test for effects of elevated gene dose on levels of expression. One insert on the X chromosome shows little or no dosage compensation. Possible reasons for the differences between the regulation of transduced genes in Drosophila and the regulation of transformed genes in mammalian systems are discussed.