The small ovary (sov) locus was identified in a female sterile screen, yet its molecular identity and function remained a mystery for decades. In the present work, Benner et al. molecularly map... Heterochromatin-mediated repression is essential for controlling the expression of transposons and for coordinated cell type-specific gene regulation. The small ovary (sov) locus was identified in a screen for female-sterile mutations in Drosophila melanogaster, and mutants show dramatic ovarian morphogenesis defects. We show that the null sov phenotype is lethal and map the locus to the uncharacterized gene CG14438, which encodes a nuclear zinc-finger protein that colocalizes with the essential Heterochromatin Protein 1 (HP1a). We demonstrate Sov functions to repress inappropriate gene expression in the ovary, silence transposons, and suppress position-effect variegation in the eye, suggesting a central role in heterochromatin stabilization.

中文翻译：

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果蝇异染色质稳定需要锌指蛋白小卵巢。

小卵巢（sov）基因座是在女性不育筛查中发现的，但其分子身份和功能几十年来仍然是个谜。在目前的工作中，本纳等人。分子图谱...异染色质介导的抑制对于控制转座子的表达和协调细胞类型特异性基因调控至关重要。在黑腹果蝇雌性不育突变筛选中发现了小卵巢（sov）位点，突变体表现出显着的卵巢形态发生缺陷。我们证明 null sov 表型是致命的，并将该基因座定位到未表征的基因 CG14438，该基因编码与必需的异染色质蛋白 1 (HP1a) 共定位的核锌指蛋白。我们证明了 Sov 的功能是抑制卵巢中不适当的基因表达、沉默转座子以及抑制眼睛中的位置效应杂色，这表明它在异染色质稳定中发挥着核心作用。