Regena (Rga), a Drosophila homolog of the global negative transcriptional regulator CDC36 (NOT2) from yeast, modifies gene expression and suppresses position effect variegation

Abstract

A mutation in Regena (Rga) was isolated in screens for modifiers of white eye color gene expression. The reduction in the level of the Rga product results in a complex modulation of white mRNA both positively and negatively, depending on the developmental stage. In addition to white, Rga also affects the expression of several other tested genes, with one of them, Vinculin, being regulated in a strong sex-specific manner. Rga was cloned by transposon tagging. Its predicted product lacks any recognized nucleic acid-binding motif but is homologous to a global negative transcriptional regulator, CDC36 (NOT2), from yeast. Rga also acts as a suppressor of position effect variegation, suggesting that a possible function of Rga could be mediation of an interaction between chromatin proteins and the transcriptional complex.