CONTROL OF TRANSCRIPTION OF DROSOPHILA RETROTRANSPOSONS

Studies of transcriptional control sequences responsible for regulated and basal-level RNA synthesis from promoters of Drosophila melanogast er retrotransposons reveal novel aspects of gene regulation and lead t o identification of trans-acting factors that can be involved in RNA p olymerase II transcription not only of retrotransposons, but of many o ther cellular genes. Comparisons between promoters of retrotransposons and some other Drosophila genes demonstrate that there is a greater v ariety in basal promoter structure than previously thought and that ma ny promoters may contain essential sequences downstream from the RNA s tart site.