Cell proliferation and DNA replication defects in a Drosophila MCM2 mutant.

The yeast MCM2, MCM3, and MCM5/CDC46 genes are required for DNA replication and have been proposed to act as factors that license the DNA for one and only one round of replication per cell cycle. We have identified a Drosophila gene, DmMCM2, that is highly homologous to MCM2. A P-element insertion into this gene, which prevents its transcription, inhibits proliferation of cells in the imaginal discs and central nervous system (CNS) and causes an apparent prolongation of S phase in the embryonic and larval CNS. DmMCM2 is expressed in the embryo in a pattern corresponding to that of S-phase cells. These results suggest that DmMCM2 plays a role in the regulation of DNA replication analogous to that of its yeast counterpart.