THE TRAMTRACK GENE ENCODES A DROSOPHILA FINGER PROTEIN THAT INTERACTS WITH THE FTZ TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATORY REGION AND SHOWS A NOVEL EMBRYONIC EXPRESSION PATTERN

We have identified a Drosophila zinc-finger protein, which binds to a number of sites in the transcriptional control regions of the pair-rule gene fushi-tarazu (ftz). The expression pattern of the mRNA that encodes this protein is essentially complementary to that of ftz both prior to blastoderm formation and during germband extension. We propose that the protein may function by repressing inappropriate segmentation gene transcription during embryogenesis. The gene encoding this ftz promoter-binding protein has been named tramtrack (ttk).