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Original Article |
Correspondence to: Deborah J. Andrew, Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 725 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205-2196. Tel:410-614-2722 Fax:410-955-4129
Previously, we reported that chromosomes contain a giant filamentous protein, which we identified as titin, a component of muscle sarcomeres. Here, we report the sequence of the entire titin gene in Drosophila melanogaster, D-Titin, and show that it encodes a two-megadalton protein with significant colinear homology to the NH2-terminal half of vertebrate titin. Mutations in D-Titin cause chromosome undercondensation, chromosome breakage, loss of diploidy, and premature sister chromatid separation. Additionally, D-Titin mutants have defects in myoblast fusion and muscle organization. The phenotypes of the D-Titin mutants suggest parallel roles for titin in both muscle and chromosome structure and elasticity, and provide new insight into chromosome structure.
Key Words: chromosome condensation, Drosophila melanogaster, myoblast fusion, sarcomere, titin
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