Functional GATA- and initiator-like-elements exhibit a similar arrangement in the promoters of Caenorhabditis elegans polyamine synthesis enzymes
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Kai Lüersen
Abstract
Polyamines are essential cell constituents involved in growth processes. In Caenorhabditis elegans the polyamine synthetic pathway consists of three enzymes, ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (AdoMetDC) and spermidine synthase. Their gene expression pattern was determined in C. elegans by microinjection of green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter gene constructs. All transgenic animals exhibited GFP expression in their intestinal cells. For the AdoMetDC promoter, fluorescence was additionally observed in dopaminergic neurons, while the ODC promoter also drives a male-specific GFP expression in the distal part of the reproductive system. The minimal promoter regions for intestine-specific expression of the AdoMetDC and spermidine synthase genes were determined by deletion mutants. Using the Seqcomp and Family Relation programs, a similar arrangement of putative cis-regulatory elements within these regions and also within the respective regions of the orthologous Caenorhabditis briggsae genes were found. The functional conservation of the latter was confirmed by heterologous transformation experiments. Moreover, the involvement of putative GATA- and initiator-(Inr)-like-elements in gene expression was determined by mutagenesis studies. RNase protection assay revealed that the Inr-like-element does not represent the main transcriptional start site, at least of C. elegans spermidine synthase. In conclusion, a similar minimal promoter architecture was found for C. elegans as well as C. briggsae AdoMetDC and spermidine synthase, two genes that participate in the same metabolic pathway.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Molecular genetics of human cervical cancer: role of papillomavirus and the apoptotic cascade
- Regulatory role of membrane-bound peptidases in the progression of gynecologic malignancies
- Functional genomics identifies novel and diverse molecular targets of nutrients in vivo
- Molecular recognition in bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)/receptor interaction
- Functional GATA- and initiator-like-elements exhibit a similar arrangement in the promoters of Caenorhabditis elegans polyamine synthesis enzymes
- Fluid shear stress induces endothelial KLF2 gene expression through a defined promoter region
- Recombinant expression, purification and cross-reactivity of chenopod profilin: rChe a 2 as a good marker for profilin sensitization
- Cellular prion protein acquires resistance to proteolytic degradation following copper ion binding
- Distinctive functional features in prokaryotic and eukaryotic Cu,Zn superoxide dismutases
- Tumour-expressed CD43 (sialophorin) mediates tumour-mesothelial cell adhesion
