The Drosophila kismet (kis) gene is a member of the trithorax group of homeotic gene activators. kis plays a dual role during Drosophila development as a transcriptional activator and as a transcriptional repressor. The kis gene encodes multiple, large nuclear proteins that are related to chromatin remodeling factors, including Brahma (BRM) (another member of the trithorax group) and dMi-2. To study interactions between KIS and its target genes, we looked at its distribution on salivary gland polytene chromosomes. KIS is associated with a number of sites on polytene chromosomes suggesting that it regulates a large number of Abstracts/R