TRANSLATION AND FATES OF THE GAG PROTEIN OF 1731, A DROSOPHILA-MELANOGASTER RETROTRANSPOSON

An entire copy of 1731, a Drosophila melanogaster retrotransposon, was tagged by fusing in frame its putative gag gene with the reporter Lac Z sequence. The high transfection efficiency of Drosophila virilis cel ls added to the absence of 1731 in their genome allowed, by combining histochemical staining and immunological detections, the demonstration of the translation of the 1731 gag gene. The gag protein is gathered in virus-like particles. Its occurrence in nuclei is consistent with a nuclear localization signal. The expression of the sense construction was inhibited by cotransfections with its antisense homologue.