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Positive control of the sex-specific alternative splicing of doublesex ( dsx ) precursor messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) in Drosophila melanogaster involves the activation of a female-specific 3′ splice site by the products of the transformer ( tra ) and transformer-2 ( tra-2 ) genes. The mechanisms of this process were investigated in an in vitro system in which the female-specific 3′ splice site could be activated by recombinant Tra or Tra-2 (or both). An exon sequence essential for regulation in vivo was shown to be both necessary and sufficient for activation in vitro. Nuclear proteins in addition to Tra and Tra-2 were found to bind specifically to this exon sequence. Therefore, Tra and Tra-2 may act by promoting the assembly of a multiprotein complex on the exon sequence. This complex may facilitate recognition of the adjacent 3′ splice site by the splicing machinery.
Tian et al. (Fri,) studied this question.