TY - JOUR

T1 - Role of elongator subunit Elp3 in Drosophila melanogaster larval development and immunity

AU - Walker, Jane

AU - Kwon, So Yeon

AU - Badenhorst, Paul

AU - East, Phil

AU - McNeill, Helen

AU - Svejstrup, Jesper Q

PY - 2011

Y1 - 2011

N2 - The Elongator complex has been implicated in several cellular processes, including gene expression and tRNA modification. We investigated the biological importance of the Elp3 gene in Drosophila melanogaster. Deletion of Elp3 results in larval lethality at the pupal stage. During early development, larval growth is dramatically impaired, with progression to the third instar delayed for ~24 hr, and pupariation occurring only at day 14 after egg laying. Melanotic nodules appear after 4 days. Microarray analysis shows that stress response genes are induced and ecdysone-induced transcription factors are severely repressed in the mutant. Interestingly, the phenotypes of Elp3 flies are similar to those of flies lacking the domino gene, encoding a SWI/SNF-like ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling enzyme. Indeed, the gene expression profiles of these mutants are also remarkably similar. Together, these data demonstrate that Drosophila Elp3 is essential for viability, normal development, and hematopoiesis and suggest a functional overlap with the chromatin remodeler Domino.

AB - The Elongator complex has been implicated in several cellular processes, including gene expression and tRNA modification. We investigated the biological importance of the Elp3 gene in Drosophila melanogaster. Deletion of Elp3 results in larval lethality at the pupal stage. During early development, larval growth is dramatically impaired, with progression to the third instar delayed for ~24 hr, and pupariation occurring only at day 14 after egg laying. Melanotic nodules appear after 4 days. Microarray analysis shows that stress response genes are induced and ecdysone-induced transcription factors are severely repressed in the mutant. Interestingly, the phenotypes of Elp3 flies are similar to those of flies lacking the domino gene, encoding a SWI/SNF-like ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling enzyme. Indeed, the gene expression profiles of these mutants are also remarkably similar. Together, these data demonstrate that Drosophila Elp3 is essential for viability, normal development, and hematopoiesis and suggest a functional overlap with the chromatin remodeler Domino.

KW - Animals

KW - Chromatin

KW - Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly

KW - Drosophila Proteins

KW - Drosophila melanogaster

KW - Ecdysone

KW - Gene Deletion

KW - Gene Expression Profiling

KW - Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental

KW - Genes, Lethal

KW - Histone Acetyltransferases

KW - Larva

KW - Linear Models

KW - Nerve Tissue Proteins

KW - Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis

KW - Pupa

KW - Transcription Factors

U2 - 10.1534/genetics.110.123893

DO - 10.1534/genetics.110.123893

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 21288872

VL - 187

SP - 1067

EP - 1075

JO - Genetics

JF - Genetics

SN - 1943-2631

IS - 4

ER -