Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P51532 (transcriptional activator)
 6,546 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The Drosophila melanogaster E74 gene is induced directly by the steroid hormone ecdysone and is a member of a small set of "early" genes that appear to trigger the onset of metamorphosis. The gene consists of three overlapping transcription units encoding two proteins, E74A and E74B, which possess a common C terminus. According to the Ashburner model for ecdysone's action, an E74 protein product potentially functions as a transcriptional activator of "late" genes as well as a repressor of early genes. We have taken an evolutionary approach to understand the function and regulation of E74 by isolating the homologous genes from Drosophila pseudoobscura and Drosophila virilis and comparing them to D. melanogaster E74 sequences. Conserved characteristics of the E74 genes include ecdysone inducibility, localization to ecdysone-induced polytene chromosome puffs, and gene size. Amino acid sequence comparisons of the E74A protein reveal a highly conserved C-terminal region that is rich in basic amino acid residues and which has been proposed to possess sequence-specific DNA binding activity. The moderately conserved N-terminal region has maintained its overall acidic character and is a potential transcriptional activator domain. The central region contains conserved glutamine and alanine homopolymeric repeats of variable lengths. Nucleotide sequence comparisons of the E74A promoter region fail to reveal ecdysone-response elements but do identify conserved sequences that may function in E74A regulation.
 ...
PMID:Interspecific comparisons of the structure and regulation of the Drosophila ecdysone-inducible gene E74. 201 53

We have characterized the regulatory properties of a 72bp sequence located in the 5' untranslated domain of the Drosophila copia retrotransposon, 3' to the left LTR, by transient transfection assays with cell lines derived from either Drosophila hydei (DH33 cells) or Drosophila melanogaster (Schneider II and Kc cells). Reporter plasmids were constructed which contained the lacZ gene under the control of either the entire copia LTR with 5' untranslated domain, or a minimal heterologous promoter flanked with the identified copia regulatory sequences. Upon transfection into the copia-free DH33 cells, the presence of the 72bp sequence resulted for all reporter plasmids in a 100-700 fold increase in expression level -as well as in reporter gene RNA levels- whereas this sequence had no enhancing effect upon transfection of the same plasmids into the copia-containing Schneider II or Kc cells. Moreover, mobility shift assays with the 72bp enhancer sequence disclosed two specific bands of retarded mobility with whole-cell extracts from DH33 cells, whereas no retarded band could be detected, under identical conditions, with extracts from Schneider II cells. UV crosslinking experiments between the enhancer sequence and DH33 extracts revealed a single protein species -of app. mol. wt. 50kD- for both retarded bands, thus strongly suggesting that they simply correspond to the sequential binding of two identical factor molecules to the enhancer sequence. These data demonstrate that the copia-free D. hydei cells express a strong transcriptional activator for the copia element and possible interpretations for the absence of this factor in the copia-containing D. melanogaster cells are discussed in terms of a possible "adaptation" of the "host" (D. melanogaster) to an otherwise highly mutagenic "parasite" (copia with its transcription factor).
 ...
PMID:Identification of a strong transcriptional activator for the copia retrotransposon responsible for its differential expression in Drosophila hydei and melanogaster cell lines. 807 83

We have identified a Drosophila transcription factor that binds a sequence element found in the larval promoters of all known alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) genes. DNA sequence analysis of cDNA clones encoding this protein, box A-binding factor (ABF), reveals that it is a member of the GATA family of transcriptional regulatory factors. ABF-binding sites within the D. mulleri and D. melanogaster larval Adh promoters function as positive regulatory elements and in cotransfection experiments, ABF functions as a transcriptional activator. In further support of a role for ABF in the regulation of Adh expression, ABF mRNA is expressed in the embryonic fat body, a tissue that contains high levels of Adh mRNA. Our studies demonstrate that the fat body develops from segmentally repeated clusters of mesodermal cells, which later expand and coalesce to form the mature fat body. These observations establish ABF as the earliest known fat body precursor marker in the Drosophila embryo. Together with the established role of GATA factors during mammalian development, these results suggest that ABF may play a key role in the organogenesis of the fat body.
 ...
PMID:A Drosophila GATA family member that binds to Adh regulatory sequences is expressed in the developing fat body. 818 33

Delayed transcriptional activation of the zygotic genome is a nearly universal phenomenon in metazoans. Immediately following fertilization, development is controlled by maternally deposited products, and it is not until later stages that widespread activation of the zygotic genome occurs. Although the mechanisms driving this genome activation are currently unknown, the transcriptional activator Zelda (ZLD) has been shown to be instrumental in driving this process in Drosophila melanogaster. Here we define functional domains of ZLD required for both DNA binding and transcriptional activation. We show that the C-terminal cluster of four zinc fingers mediates binding to TAGteam DNA elements in the promoters of early expressed genes. All four zinc fingers are required for this activity, and splice isoforms lacking three of the four zinc fingers fail to activate transcription. These truncated splice isoforms dominantly suppress activation by the full-length, embryonically expressed isoform. We map the transcriptional activation domain of ZLD to a central region characterized by low complexity. Despite relatively little sequence conservation within this domain, ZLD orthologs from Drosophila virilis, Anopheles gambiae, and Nasonia vitripennis activate transcription in D. melanogaster cells. Transcriptional activation by these ZLD orthologs suggests that ZLD functions through conserved interactions with a protein cofactor(s). We have identified distinct DNA-binding and activation domains within the critical transcription factor ZLD that controls the initial activation of the zygotic genome.
...
PMID:Transcriptional activation is a conserved feature of the early embryonic factor Zelda that requires a cluster of four zinc fingers for DNA binding and a low-complexity activation domain. 2553 46

The complex nature of crop genomes has long prohibited the efficient isolation of agronomically relevant genes. However, recent advances in next-generation sequencing technologies provide new ways to accelerate fine-mapping and gene isolation in crops. We used RNA sequencing of allelic six-rowed spike3 (vrs3) mutants with altered spikelet development for gene identification and functional analysis in barley (Hordeum vulgare). Variant calling in two allelic vrs3 mutants revealed that VRS3 encodes a putative histone Lys demethylase with a conserved zinc finger and Jumonji C and N domain. Sanger sequencing of this candidate gene in independent allelic vrs3 mutants revealed a series of mutations in conserved domains, thus confirming our candidate as the VRS3 gene and suggesting that the row type in barley is determined epigenetically. Global transcriptional profiling in developing shoot apical meristems of vrs3 suggested that VRS3 acts as a transcriptional activator of the row-type genes VRS1 (Hv.HOMEOBOX1) and INTERMEDIUM-C (INT-C; Hv.TEOSINTE BRANCHED1). Comparative transcriptome analysis of the row-type mutants vrs3, vrs4 (Hv.RAMOSA2), and int-c confirmed that all three genes act as transcriptional activators of VRS1 and quantitative variation in the expression levels of VRS1 in these mutants correlated with differences in the number of developed lateral spikelets. The identification of genes and pathways affecting seed number in small grain cereals will enable to further unravel the transcriptional networks controlling this important yield component.
 ...
PMID:Six-Rowed Spike3 (VRS3) Is a Histone Demethylase That Controls Lateral Spikelet Development in Barley. 2865 78