Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 13, 1045-1056, Copyright © 1993 by Society for Neuroscience
The Drosophila gene rbp9 encodes a protein that is a member of a conserved group of putative RNA binding proteins that are nervous system-specific in both flies and humans
YJ Kim and BS Baker
Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, California 94305.
The rbp9 gene of Drosophila melanogaster has been molecularly characterized
and shown to be expressed solely in the CNS, where it encodes proteins with
three RNA recognition motifs (RRMs). Sequencing of genomic and cDNA clones
of rbp9 revealed a complex gene with three alternative promoters as well as
alternative patterns of splicing. The deduced amino acid sequence of the
RBP9 proteins is highly similar to those of three other nervous
system-specific genes, human HuC and HuD and Drosophila elav, which also
encode proteins with three RRMs. Developmental Northern analysis revealed
that rbp9 is expressed from the late third instar larva through adult
stages. The RBP9 protein was detected specifically in nuclei of the nervous
system after morphogenesis of the adult CNS in the mid-pupal stage. Thus,
the RBP9 protein does not appear until substantially later than rbp9
transcripts are detected. The adult nervous system nuclear-limited
expression pattern, the presence of RRMs, and the high similarity to a
group of nervous system-specific proteins in flies and humans suggest that
rbp9 belongs to a nervous system-specific RRM protein gene subfamily that
may participate in the processing of RNAs involved in the development of
the CNS.