Amplification-control element ACE-3 is important but not essential for autosomal chorion gene amplification.

We have further characterized the cis-acting elements that control the amplification of the third chromosomal cluster of chorion genes in Drosophila melanogaster; these include the amplification-control element ACE-3 and four amplification-enhancing regions (AER-a to -d). We have used two types of deletions in the chorion cluster: the first was in vitro generated deletions of the ACE-3 region that were subsequently introduced into the germ line, and the second was deletions induced in vivo within a transposon at a preexisting chromosomal location, thus avoiding the complication of position effects. Some of the lines bearing deletions of either type showed amplification, albeit at drastically reduced levels. These unexpected results indicate that, despite its importance, ACE-3 is not essential for low-level amplification and that cis-acting amplification elements are functionally redundant within the autosomal chorion replicon.