Mutations at the Darkener of apricot locus modulate transcript levels of copia and copia-induced mutations in Drosophila melanogaster

Mutations of the Doa locus of Drosophila melanogaster darken the eye color of the copia-induced white(apricot) (wa) allele and increase the accumulation of white promoter-initiated transcripts encoding functional mRNA. We show here that quantities of transcripts initiated in both long terminal repeats (LTRs) of the specific wa-copia element are increased, and those initiating in the 5' LTR of the element are structurally altered, yielding a slightly shortened transcript. Accumulation of host-initiated transcripts of a copia-induced mutation within the achaete-scute complex, Hairy-wing Ua (HwUa), are reduced by Doa mutations. Finally, we show that homozygosity for Doa mutations increases the accumulation of copia transcripts from the population of elements in the genome. These results suggest that Doa modulates the severity of copia-induced mutations while functioning as a dosage-sensitive modulator of copia transcription.