Metallothionein genes in Drosophila melanogaster constitute a dual system

We have selected a metallothionein (MT) cDNA clone from a cadmium-resistant Drosophila melanogaster cell line. This clone includes an open reading frame coding for a 43-amino acid protein whose characteristics are a high cysteine content (12 cysteines, 28% of all residues) and a lack of aromatic amino acids. This protein differs markedly from the Drosophila MT (Mtn gene) previously reported [Lastowski-Perry, D., Otto, E. & Maroni, G. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 1527-1530). The MT system of Drosophila thus consists of at least two distantly related genes, in sharp contrast with vertebrate MT systems, in which the different members of MT gene families display high similarity. The gene corresponding to our MT cDNA (Mto) is inducible in Drosophila cell lines and in both larval and adult flies.