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PMID: 8599940 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Probes of chromatin accessibility in the Drosophila bithorax complex respond differently to Polycomb-mediated repression.

The EMBO journal ·Vol. 15 ·No. 3 ·1996-02-01 ·Pages 569-80

McCall K, Bender W

Abstract

The Polycomb group (PcG) of genes are required for maintenance of the repressed state of the homeotic genes in Drosophila. There are similarities between the PcG repression and mating-type silencing in yeast or heterochromatic position effect in Drosophila, which suggest that PcG repression may involve a highly compacted chromatin structure. To test for such a structure, heterologous DNA- binding proteins were used as probes for DNA accessibility in Drosophila embryos. Binding sites for the yeast transcriptional activator GAL4 and for bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase were inserted into the bithorax (bx) regulatory region of the endogenous Ultrabithorax (Ubx) gene, which is regulated by the PcG. Ubiquitously expressed GAL4 protein directs transcription through its binding sites only in the posterior segments where the bx region is active. The block to GAL4 activation in the more anterior segments is dependent on Polycomb (Pc) function. In contrast, T7 RNA polymerase can transcribe from its target promoter in all segments of the embryo. Thus, Pc-mediated repression blocks activated polymerase II transcription, but does not simply exclude all proteins.

MeSH Terms
Animals Chromatin/genetics DNA-Binding Proteins/genetics DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases/genetics Drosophila/embryology,genetics Drosophila Proteins Female Fungal Proteins/genetics Genes, Homeobox Genes, Insect Genes, Regulator Male Molecular Probes Mutation Nucleosomes/genetics Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 Promoter Regions, Genetic Proteins/genetics Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins Transcription Factors Viral Proteins
Chemicals
Chromatin DNA-Binding Proteins Drosophila Proteins Fungal Proteins GAL4 protein, S cerevisiae Molecular Probes Nucleosomes Pc protein, Drosophila Proteins Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins Transcription Factors Viral Proteins Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
McCall K
Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Bender W
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Article Info
Journal
The EMBO journal
Abbr.
EMBO J
ISSN
0261-4189
Published
1996-02-01
Pages
569-80
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
8208664
PMCID
PMC449975
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source PMC Full Text View journal details
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