A structural analysis of Balbiani ring dna sequences in Chironomus tentans

The Balbiani rings in the salivary gland polytene chromosomes of Chironomus tentans include the most active structural genes in this organ. Two of them (BR1 and BR2) contain repetitive sequences and are transcribed into giant RNA molecules. On Southern blots of restriction digests, we have identified fragments of genomic DNA which contain BR sequences. One of these fragments with a length of about 150 bp has been cloned and shown to hybridize preferentially to the BR1 transcription unit. Determination of its nucleotide sequence revealed several recognition sites for restriction enzymes which cleave the giant BR gene(s) into small pieces of approximately 240 bp. It is concluded that the cloned fragment represents part of the basic 240 bp repeat unit of a BR1 gene. Data obtained from partial restriction digests using the cloned DNA segment as a probe indicate that probably the entire BR1 gene comprises tandem repeats of 240 bp. Evidence is presented that the cloned BR1 sequence significantly cross-hybridizes to BR2 and to a lesser extent to BR6. BR2 sequences are present on a MboI fragment of 40 kb and seem to be organized in a very similar way as found for the BR1 gene.