J. Silber et al., TEMPERATURE REGULATES EXPRESSION OF THE DROSOPHILA VESTIGIAL GENE ONLY IN MUTANT WING DISCS, MGG. Molecular & general genetics, 256(3), 1997, pp. 328-332
All Vestigial mutants in Drosophila melanogaster display a thermosensi
tive phenotype, with the exception of two which disrupt an intronic wi
ng-specific enhancer element. Here we report a very unusual transcript
ional regulation; temperature changes are associated with alterations
in the level of vg expression only in the wing disc of thermosensitive
mutant flies and not in the brain. No effect is observed in the wild-
type strain. The tissue specificity of the temperature effect indicate
s an involvement of the intronic wing-specific enhancer element in det
ermining the thermosensitivity of mutants.