Gene structure of Drosophila diaphorase-1: diversity of transcripts in adult males and females, in different organs and at different stages of development.

The gene EG:22E5.5 or CG4199 (accession number O77266, Q9W529) from Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project (BDGP) was found using the partial amino acid sequences of three tryptic peptides obtained from purified Drosophila virilis diaphorase-1. This gene is located on the X chromosome at position 2C9-2C10. The structure of the gene reveals three exons and two long introns. Using BDGP, we found six transcripts in this gene. The difference between these transcripts is in their 5' ends; the 3' ends of the six transcripts are identical. Thirty-four ESTs from different cDNA libraries were found, most of them from Schneider L2 cell culture (SH) cDNA library. The transcripts are represented at very low level in the cells of different organs and at different stages of Drosophila development. Using RT-PCR, we obtained five of these transcripts in cDNA samples from female adult flies. However, we could not find any of them in cDNA samples from male adult flies. Moreover, we obtained only the third transcript (CG4199-RC) in the sample of testis from adult flies and the fourth transcript (CG4199-RD) in an embryo sample. None of the other five transcripts were found in the samples of different organs and in the samples obtained at different stages of Drosophila development.