Targeted mutagenesis of Drosophila RNaseZ gene by homologous recombination.

For the first time we used a homologous recombination method to obtain complete and precise deletion of Drosophila dRNaseZ gene. In the founder line of flies in which the RNaseZ sequence was replaced by attP site, the full-length sequence of the gene was reintegrated, and its functionality was shown. This approach will allow us to generate further gene mutations in different domains of dRNaseZ protein and discover a broad spectrum and uncover functions outside of tRNA processing.