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Development 129, 1339-1343 (2002)
© 2002 The Company of Biologists Limited

Zeste maintains repression of Ubx transgenes: support for a new model of Polycomb repression

Man-Wook Hur1, Jeffrey D. Laney2, Sang-Hack Jeon3, Janann Ali4 and Mark D. Biggin5,*

1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Yonsei University School of Medicine, 134 ShinChon-Dong, SeoDaeMoon-Ku, Seoul, Korea 120-752
2 Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
3 Department of Biology, Kon-Kuk University, Seoul, Korea 143-701
4 Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, 240 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA
5 Genome Sciences Department, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Mail stop 84-171, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA

*Author for correspondence (e-mail: mdbiggin{at}lbl.gov)

Accepted 17 December 2001

During late embryogenesis, the expression domains of homeotic genes are maintained by two groups of ubiquitously expressed regulators: the Polycomb repressors and the Trithorax activators. It is not known how the activities of the two maintenance systems are initially targeted to the correct genes. Zeste and GAGA are sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins previously shown to be Trithorax group activators of the homeotic gene Ultrabithorax (Ubx). We demonstrate that Zeste and GAGA DNA-binding sites at the proximal promoter are also required to maintain, but not to initiate, repression of Ubx. Furthermore, the repression mediated by Zeste DNA-binding site is abolished in zeste null embryos. These data imply that Zeste and probably GAGA mediate Polycomb repression. We present a model in which the dual transcriptional activities of Zeste and GAGA are an essential component of the mechanism that chooses which maintenance system is to be targeted to a given promoter.

Key words: Polycomb group, Trithorax group, Homeotic, Zeste, GAGA, Drosophila




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© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2002