Transcriptional repression by the Caenorhabditis elegans germ-line protein PIE-1

AUTOR(ES)

Batchelder, Ceri

FONTE

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press

RESUMO

In the early Caenorhabditis elegans embryo, maternally expressed PIE-1 protein is required in germ-line blastomeres to inhibit somatic differentiation, maintain an absence of mRNA transcription, and block phosphorylation of the RNA polymerase II large subunit (Pol II) carboxy-terminal domain (CTD). We have determined that PIE-1 can function as a transcriptional repressor in cell culture assays. By fusing PIE-1 sequences to the yeast GAL4 DNA-binding domain, we have identified a PIE-1 repression domain that appears to inhibit the transcriptional machinery directly. A sequence element that is required for this repressor activity is similar to the Pol II CTD heptapeptide repeat, suggesting that the PIE-1 repression domain might target a protein complex that can bind the CTD. An alteration of this sequence element that blocks repression also impairs the ability of a transgene to rescue a pie-1 mutation, suggesting that this repressor activity may be important for PIE-1 function in vivo.

Documentos Relacionados

• PIE-1 is a bifunctional protein that regulates maternal and zygotic gene expression in the embryonic germ line of Caenorhabditis elegans
• Multiple potential germ-line helicases are components of the germ-line-specific P granules of Caenorhabditis elegans
• Germ-line immortality
• A C. elegans patched gene, ptc-1, functions in germ-line cytokinesis
• Mammalian germ-line transgenesis by transposition