|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
| Home Help Feedback Subscriptions Archive Search Table of Contents | ||||
Development, Vol 126, Issue 17 3725-3734, Copyright © 1999 by Company of Biologists
JOURNAL ARTICLES |
H Takahashi, Y Mitani, G Satoh and N Satoh
Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan. taka@ascidian.zool.kyoto-u.ac.jp
The Brachyury genes of two divergent ascidians, As-T of Halocynthia roretzi and Ci-Bra of Ciona intestinalis, are expressed exclusively in notochord precursor cells. A previous study showed that the notochord-specific expression of Ci-Bra is controlled by a minimal promoter that is composed of three distinct regions: a region responsible for repression of expression in non-notochord mesoderm cells, a region for activation of expression in notochord cells, and a region for activation of expression in non-notochord mesoderm cells, distal to proximal to the transcription initiation site, respectively. We examined various deletion constructs of the As-T/lacZ fusion gene and demonstrate that a module between -289 and -250 bp of the 5'-flanking region is responsible for notochord-specific expression of the reporter gene. Gel-shift assays suggested the binding of nuclear protein(s) to this module. The 5'-flanking region of As-T contains a potential T-binding motif (-ACCTAGGT-) around -160 bp. Deletion of this motif from the p(-289)As-T/lacZ diminished the reporter gene expression. In addition, coinjection of p(-289)As-T/lacZ and synthetic As-T mRNA resulted in ectopic expression of lacZ in non-notochord cells, suggesting that the T-binding motif is responsible for autoactivation of the gene. These findings revealed striking differences between the minimal promoters of As-T and Ci-Bra so far revealed, with respect to their notochord-specific expression. Furthermore, reciprocal injections of reporter gene constructs, namely As-T/lacZ into Ciona eggs and Ci-Bra/lacZ into Halocynthia eggs, suggest alterations in the cis-regulatory elements and trans-activation factors that have occurred during evolution of the two ascidian species.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  A. Chabot, R. A. Shrit, R. Blekhman, and Y. Gilad Using Reporter Gene Assays to Identify cis Regulatory Differences Between Humans and Chimpanzees Genetics, August 1, 2007; 176(4): 2069 - 2076. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. Kurokawa, Y. Sakurai, A. Inoue, R. Nakayama, N. Takasaki, Y. Suda, T. Miyake, C. T. Amemiya, and S. Aizawa Evolutionary constraint on Otx2 neuroectoderm enhancers-deep conservation from skate to mouse and unique divergence in teleost PNAS, December 19, 2006; 103(51): 19350 - 19355. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T. van Opijnen, M. C. Boerlijst, and B. Berkhout Effects of random mutations in the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 transcriptional promoter on viral fitness in different host cell environments. J. Virol., July 1, 2006; 80(13): 6678 - 6685. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 I. Oda-Ishii, V. Bertrand, I. Matsuo, P. Lemaire, and H. Saiga Making very similar embryos with divergent genomes: conservation of regulatory mechanisms of Otx between the ascidians Halocynthia roretzi and Ciona intestinalis Development, April 1, 2005; 132(7): 1663 - 1674. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
K. Yagi, Y. Satou, and N. Satoh A zinc finger transcription factor, ZicL, is a direct activator of Brachyury in the notochord specification of Ciona intestinalis Development, March 15, 2004; 131(6): 1279 - 1288. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
I. Ruvinsky and G. Ruvkun Functional tests of enhancer conservation between distantly related species Development, November 1, 2003; 130(21): 5133 - 5142. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
K. Kobayashi, K. Sawada, H. Yamamoto, S. Wada, H. Saiga, and H. Nishida Maternal macho-1 is an intrinsic factor that makes cell response to the same FGF signal differ between mesenchyme and notochord induction in ascidian embryos Development, November 1, 2003; 130(21): 5179 - 5190. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
L. A. Romano and G. A. Wray Conservation of Endo16 expression in sea urchins despite evolutionary divergence in both cis and trans-acting components of transcriptional regulation Development, September 1, 2003; 130(17): 4187 - 4199. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. A. Wray, M. W. Hahn, E. Abouheif, J. P. Balhoff, M. Pizer, M. V. Rockman, and L. A. Romano The Evolution of Transcriptional Regulation in Eukaryotes Mol. Biol. Evol., September 1, 2003; 20(9): 1377 - 1419. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Y. Mitani, H. Takahashi, and N. Satoh Regulation of the muscle-specific expression and function of an ascidian T-box gene, As-T2 Development, October 1, 2001; 128(19): 3717 - 3728. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. Darras and H. Nishida The BMP signaling pathway is required together with the FGF pathway for notochord induction in the ascidian embryo Development, July 15, 2001; 128(14): 2629 - 2638. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Y. Shimauchi, S. D. Murakami, and N. Satoh FGF signals are involved in the differentiation of notochord cells and mesenchyme cells of the ascidian Halocynthia roretzi Development, July 15, 2001; 128(14): 2711 - 2721. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
