New tissue-specific enhancers found in the ct(6) region of the regulatory region of the cut locus in Drosophila

The cut locus of Drosophila is an interesting example of a complex eukaryot ic locus responsible for the development of many tissues and organs, Most o f this locus is regulatory. The entire; locus was cloned by Tchurikov et al . in 1986 and Blochlinger et al. in 1988. The wing ct(n) enhancer located 8 0 kb upstream of the promoter was earlier found in a 2.7 kb EcoRI-BamHI DNA fragment, The locus region 65-80 kb remote from the promoter was assumed t o control the development of wings and vibrissae, We have found a new enhan cer region in the Ct(6) region of the locus, which was in a 5 kb BamHI-EcoR I DNR fragment adjacent to the ctn enhancer. This region is responsible far the expression of the reporter lacZ gene in many tissues and organs at all stages of Drosophila development (at least in the intestine, Malpighian tu bules, thoracic and abdominal sensory organs, thoracic ganglia and in ring glands). Thus, the region located 75 kb upstream of the promoter has some p roperties of the locus control region (LCR).