Lerach, S., Zhang, W., Deng, H., Bao, X., Girton, J., Johansen, J., Johansen, K.M. (2005). JIL-1 kinase, a member of the male-specific lethal (MSL) complex, is necessary for proper dosage compensation of eye pigmentation in Drosophila.  genesis 43(4): 213--215.

FBrf0190677

Research paper

The upregulation of the JIL-1 kinase on the male X chromosome and its association with the male-specific lethal (MSL) complex suggest that JIL-1 may play a role in regulating dosage compensation. To directly test this hypothesis we measured eye pigment levels of mutants in the X-linked white gene in an allelic series of JIL-1 hypomorphic mutants. We show that dosage compensation of w(a) alleles that normally do exhibit dosage compensation was severely impaired in the JIL-1 mutant backgrounds. As a control we also examined a hypomorphic white allele w(e) that fails to dosage compensate in males due to a pogo element insertion. In this case the relative pigment level measured in males as compared to females remained approximately the same even in the most severe JIL-1 hypomorphic background. These results indicate that proper dosage compensation of eye pigment levels in males controlled by X-linked white alleles requires normal JIL-1 function.

PMC2980853 (PMC) (EuropePMC)