Positive regulation of the Drosophila melanogaster G6PD gene by an insertion sequence.

In a previous study, we have shown that the three high-G6PD activity mutants are characterized by insertion of the Ins1 sequence consisting of a core sequence flanked by two defective P elements (KP and KP'; the 32nd base of the KP was replaced by guanine in the KP') in front of exonI of the G6PD gene and that the sequence responsible for positive regulation of the G6PD gene expression might be the core sequence but not the flanking KP and KP' elements. The core sequence is composed of either one or two identical units in each mutant. In this report we present evidence (1) that insertion of the Ins1 sequence gives rise to overproduction of G6PD mRNA, (2) that the length and the 5' end of G6PD mRNA do not differ in wild-type and three mutants, (3) that the insertion site of the Ins1 sequence is the same in the mutants, and (4) that each unit of the core sequence has the same in the mutants, and (4) that each unit of the core sequence has a pair of DNase I-hypersensitive sites. The possibility exists that the binding of some regulatory proteins to the DNase I-hypersensitive sites might accelerate the transcription rate of the G6PD gene.