The Drosophila single-minded gene encodes a nuclear protein with sequence similarity to the per gene product

Mutations in the single-minded (sim) gene of Drosophila result in the loss of the precursor cells giving rise to the midline cells of the embryonic central nervous system. We have examined the structure of the sim product by sequencing a sim cDNA clone, and have also determined the subcellular localization of the protein and its developmental expression by staining embryos with an antiserum against a sim fusion protein. The results indicate that sim is a nuclear protein specifically expressed along the midline of the neuroepithelium, the same subset of cells that are missing in the mutant. No similarity is observed between sim and any known nuclear protein, but, surprisingly, it is similar to the Drosophila period (per) locus gene product, which controls the periodicity of biological rhythms.