Abstract
Upon fertilization Chlamydomonas reinhardtii zygotes undergo a program of differentiation into a diploid zygospore that is accompanied by transcription of hundreds of zygote-specific genes. We identified a distinct sequence motif we term a zygotic response element (ZYRE) that is highly enriched in promoter regions of C. reinhardtii early zygotic genes. A luciferase reporter assay was used to show that native ZYRE motifs within the promoter of zygotic gene ZYS3 or intron of zygotic gene DMT4 are necessary for zygotic induction. A synthetic luciferase reporter with a minimal promoter was used to show that ZYRE motifs introduced upstream are sufficient to confer zygotic upregulation, and that ZYRE-controlled zygotic transcription is dependent on the homeodomain transcription factor GSP1. We predict that ZYRE motifs will correspond to binding sites for the homeodomain proteins GSP1-GSM1 that heterodimerize and activate zygotic gene expression in early zygotes.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1541-1548 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics |
Volume | 6 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2016 |
Keywords
- Chlamydomonas
- Cis-regulatory element
- Fertilization
- Homeodomain protein
- Zygote