Abstract
We have cloned vermillion (.nu.), one of the genes required for brown eye pigment synthesis in Drosophila, using a mutant (.nu.H2a) "tagged" with the transposon P factor. Mutations that disrupt .nu. gene expression are clustered within approximately 2 kilobases of DNA. A 1.4-kilobase transcript, homologous to this same region, is present in v+ RNA but absent in RNA from several .nu. mutants. The spontaneous .nu. alleles that are suppressed by the suppressor of sable [su(s)] are apparently identical insertions of 412, a copia-like transposable element. Preliminary evidence suggests that su(s)-suppressible alleles at other loci may also be 412 insertions.