Fig 1.
Schematic representation of reporter vectors. For reporter vector construction, bait sequences of various repeats of (dC-dG) are inserted between the reporter gene (LacZ) and the URA3 gene. Two orientations of the selection marker gene, URA3, are used for creating favorable (A, opposite or Op) or unfavorable (B, same or Sm) conditions for Z-DNA formation. In the pLacZcOp vector, the orientation of URA3 transcription is opposite to that of the LacZ-reporter gene. In contrast, transcriptions from both URA3 and LacZ have the same orientation in the pLacZcSm vector. As shown diagrammatically with pLacZcOp, transcription of the LacZ-reporter gene is activated when hZαADAR carrying an AD binds to Z-DNA. The Zα-AD hybrid fusion is expressed from an independent vector, pACT2-Zα.