The Dictyostelium Bzip Transcription Factor Dimb Regulates Prestalk-specific Gene Expression.
From: School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, MSI/WTB Complex, UK.
Development (Cambridge, England)
- Publish Date: Feb 2006
- ISSN: 0950-1991
- Volume: 133
- Issue: 3
- Pages: 439-48
- Medium: Print
- Language: English
- Citation (JAMA): Zhukovskaya Natasha V, Fukuzawa Masashi, Yamada Yoko, et al. The Dictyostelium Bzip Transcription Factor Dimb Regulates Prestalk-specific Gene Expression.. Development Feb 2006;133:439-48
Abstract
The ecmA gene is specifically expressed in prestalk cells and its transcription is induced by the chlorinated hexaphenone DIF-1. We have purified a novel bZIP transcription factor, DimB, by affinity chromatography on two spatially separated ecmA promoter fragments. Mutagenesis of the cap-site proximal DimB-binding site (the -510 site) greatly decreases ecmA expression in the pstO cells, which comprise the rear half of the prestalk zone, and also in the Anterior-Like Cells, which lie scattered throughout the prespore region. However, DimB is not essential for normal expression of the ecmA gene, instead it spatially limits its expression; ecmA is relatively highly expressed in the subset of prestalk cells that coats the prestalk zone, but in slugs of a DimB-null strain, ecmA is highly expressed throughout the prestalk zone. Because the -510 site is required for correct ecmA expression, we posit a separate activator protein that competes with DimB for binding to the -510 site. DimB rapidly accumulates in the nucleus when cells are exposed to DIF-1, and ChIP analysis shows that, in the presence of extracellular cAMP, DIF-1 causes DimB to associate with the ecmA promoter in vivo. Thus, DIF-1 regulates DimB activity to generate a gradient of ecmA expression in the prestalk zone of the slug.
Mesh Headings (Keywords): Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors, Binding Sites, Cell Differentiation, Cell Nucleus, Cyclic AMP, Dictyostelium, Extracellular Matrix Proteins, Gene Expression Regulation, Hexanones, Molecular Sequence Data, Morphogenesis, Point Mutation, Promoter Regions (Genetics), Protozoan Proteins, Sequence Alignment
Check for Full Text / PubMed Unique Identifier (PMID): 16396914
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