Histone methylation and modulation of gene expression in response to heat shock and chemical stress in Drosophila.

Abstract

All prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms examined respond to an exposure to supraoptimal temperatures or to various forms of cellular stress by the rapid induction of a small set of proteins, the heat shock proteins 1–3. In Drosophila where this response was originally observed, extensive gene regulation has been shown to operate at the transcriptional and post-transchptional levels4. In this system, the rapid activation of the heat shock genes observed at the puff level is accompanied by an equally rapid repression of the transcription of most of the genes active prior to the shock (referred to hereafter as the normal genes). The molecular mechanisms involved in the rapid induction or repression of specific genes in response to stress are still unclear.