Insertion of a copia element 5' to the Drosophila melanogaster alcohol dehydrogenase gene (adh) is associated with altered developmental and tissue-specific patterns of expression.

The Drosophila melanogaster alcohol dehydrogenase gene (adh) is under the control of two separate promoters (proximal and distal) which are preferentially utilized at the larval and adult life stages, respectively. A variant alcohol dehydrogenase allele (RI-42) isolated from a natural population contains a copia retroviral-like transposable element inserted 240 bp upstream from the distal (adult) adh transcriptional start site. Levels of adh transcripts in the RI-42 variant are reduced in tissues and at life stages where copia is actively expressed and are affected in trans- by mutant alleles at the suppressor-of-white-apricot (su(wa] and suppressor-of-forked (su(f] loci. These suppressor genes have no effect on adh expression in wild-type Drosophila.