This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Yang, D.
Right arrow Articles by Erickson, J. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Yang, D.
Right arrow Articles by Erickson, J. W.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Molecular and Cellular Biology, March 2001, p. 1581-1592, Vol. 21, No. 5
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.5.1581-1592.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Interpretation of X Chromosome Dose at Sex-lethal Requires Non-E-Box Sites for the Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins SISB and Daughterless

Dun Yang,1,dagger Hong Lu,1 Yong Hong,1 Timothy M. Jinks,2,Dagger Patricia A. Estes,2,§ and James W. Erickson1,*

Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027,1 and Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 085442

Received 18 July 2000/Returned for modification 30 August 2000/Accepted 9 November 2000

For Drosophila melanogaster flies, sexual fate is determined by the X chromosome number. The basic helix-loop-helix protein product of the X-linked sisterlessB (sisB or scute) gene is a key indicator of the X dose and functions to activate the switch gene Sex-lethal (Sxl) in female (XX), but not in male (XY), embryos. Zygotically expressed sisB and maternal daughterless (da) proteins are known to form heterodimers that bind E-box sites and activate transcription. We examined SISB-Da binding at Sxl by using footprinting and gel mobility shift assays and found that SISB-Da binds numerous clustered sites in the establishment promoter SxlPe. Surprisingly, most SISB-Da sites at SxlPe differ from the canonical CANNTG E-box motif. These noncanonical sites have 6-bp CA(G/C)CCG and 7-bp CA(G/C)CTTG cores and exhibit a range of binding affinities. We show that the noncanonical sites can mediate SISB-Da-activated transcription in cell culture. P-element transformation experiments show that these noncanonical sites are essential for SxlPe activity in embryos. Together with previous deletion analysis, the data suggest that the number, affinity, and position of SISB-Da sites may all be important for the operation of the SxlPe switch. Comparisons with other dose-sensitive promoters suggest that threshold responses to diverse biological signals have common molecular mechanisms, with important variations tailored to suit particular functional requirements.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, 1212 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10027. Phone: (212) 854-4625. Fax: (212) 865-8246. E-mail: erickson{at}cub.bio.columbia.edu.

dagger Present address: The G. W. Hooper Foundation, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143.

Dagger Present address: Division of Developmental Neurobiology, National Institute for Medical Research, London NW7 1AA, United Kingdom.

§ Present address: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, March 2001, p. 1581-1592, Vol. 21, No. 5
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.5.1581-1592.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Gonzalez, A. N., Lu, H., Erickson, J. W. (2008). A shared enhancer controls a temporal switch between promoters during Drosophila primary sex determination. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105: 18436-18441 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bosch, J. R. t., Benavides, J. A., Cline, T. W. (2006). The TAGteam DNA motif controls the timing of Drosophila pre-blastoderm transcription. Development 133: 1967-1977 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Espineda, C. E., Chang, J. H., Twiss, J., Rajasekaran, S. A., Rajasekaran, A. K. (2004). Repression of Na,K-ATPase {beta}1-Subunit by the Transcription Factor Snail in Carcinoma. Mol. Biol. Cell 15: 1364-1373 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Karp, X., Greenwald, I. (2003). Post-transcriptional regulation of the E/Daughterless ortholog HLH-2, negative feedback, and birth order bias during the AC/VU decision in C. elegans. Genes Dev. 17: 3100-3111 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wrischnik, L. A., Timmer, J. R., Megna, L. A., Cline, T. W. (2003). Recruitment of the Proneural Gene scute to the Drosophila Sex-Determination Pathway. Genetics 165: 2007-2027 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Louis, M., Holm, L., Sanchez, L., Kaufman, M. (2003). A Theoretical Model for the Regulation of Sex-lethal, a Gene That Controls Sex Determination and Dosage Compensation in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 165: 1355-1384 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Penalva, L. O. F., Sanchez, L. (2003). RNA Binding Protein Sex-Lethal (Sxl) and Control of Drosophila Sex Determination and Dosage Compensation. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 67: 343-359 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Giagtzoglou, N., Alifragis, P., Koumbanakis, K. A., Delidakis, C. (2003). Two modes of recruitment of E(spl) repressors onto target genes. Development 130: 259-270 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lavenu-Bombled, C., Trainor, C. D., Makeh, I., Romeo, P.-H., Max-Audit, I. (2002). Interleukin-13 Gene Expression Is Regulated by GATA-3 in T Cells. ROLE OF A CRITICAL ASSOCIATION OF A GATA AND TWO GATG MOTIFS. J. Biol. Chem. 277: 18313-18321 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Chu, D. S., Dawes, H. E., Lieb, J. D., Chan, R. C., Kuo, A. F., Meyer, B. J. (2002). A molecular link between gene-specific and chromosome-wide transcriptional repression. Genes Dev. 16: 796-805 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Smith, J. E. III, Cummings, C. A., Cronmiller, C. (2002). daughterless coordinates somatic cell proliferation, differentiation and germline cyst survival during follicle formation in Drosophila. Development 129: 3255-3267 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Smith, J. E. III, Cronmiller, C. (2001). The Drosophila daughterless gene autoregulates and is controlled by both positive and negative cis regulation. Development 128: 4705-4714 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2010 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»