RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The period gene encodes a predominantly nuclear protein in adult Drosophila
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 2735
OP 2744
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.12-07-02735.1992
VO 12
IS 7
A1 X Liu
A1 LJ Zwiebel
A1 D Hinton
A1 S Benzer
A1 JC Hall
A1 M Rosbash
YR 1992
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/12/7/2735.abstract
AB The period gene of Drosophila melanogaster (per) is important for the generation and maintenance of biological rhythms. Previous light microscopic observations indicated that per is expressed in a variety of tissues and cell types and suggested that the per protein (PER) may be present in different subcellular compartments. To understand how PER influences circadian rhythms, it is important to define its subcellular location, especially in adult flies where inducible promoter experiments suggested that it is most relevant to circadian locomotor activity rhythms. To this end, we report the results of an immunoelectron microscopic analysis of wild-type flies and per-beta- galactosidase (beta-gal) fusion gene transgenics using a polyclonal anti-PER antibody or an anti-beta-gal antibody, respectively. Most of the PER antigen and the fusion gene product were located within nuclei, suggesting that PER acts in that subcellular compartment to affect circadian rhythms. The results are discussed in terms of per's possible biochemical functions.