Work

Identification and Characterization of acis-Regulatory Element for Zygotic Gene Expression inChlamydomonas reinhardtii

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: Upon fertilization Chlamydomonas reinhardtii zygotes undergo a program of differentiation into a diploid zygospore that is accompanied by transcription of hundreds of zygote-specific genes. We identified a distinct sequence motif we term a zygotic response element (ZYRE) that is highly enriched in promoter regions of C reinhardtii early zygotic genes. A luciferase reporter assay was used to show that native ZYRE motifs within the promoter of zygotic gene ZYS3 or intron of zygotic gene DMT4 are necessary for zygotic induction. A synthetic luciferase reporter with a minimal promoter was used to show that ZYRE motifs introduced upstream are sufficient to confer zygotic upregulation, and that ZYRE-controlled zygotic transcription is dependent on the homeodomain transcription factor GSP1. We predict that ZYRE motifs will correspond to binding sites for the homeodomain proteins GSP1-GSM1 that heterodimerize and activate zygotic gene expression in early zygotes.

Source: G3 Genes Genomes Genetics

DOI: 10.1534/g3.116.029181

Authors: Takashi Hamaji, David Lopez, Matteo Pellegrini, James Umen

Institutions: Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, University of California, Los Angeles

Language: English

Topic: Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,709