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The Plant Cell logoLink to The Plant Cell
. 1998 Mar;10(3):331–341. doi: 10.1105/tpc.10.3.331

A novel cis-acting element in promoters of plant B-type cyclin genes activates M phase-specific transcription.

M Ito 1, M Iwase 1, H Kodama 1, P Lavisse 1, A Komamine 1, R Nishihama 1, Y Machida 1, A Watanabe 1
PMCID: PMC144003  PMID: 9501108

Abstract

Plant B-type cyclin genes are expressed late in the G2 and M phases of the cell cycle. Previously, we showed that the promoter of a Catharanthus roseus B-type cyclin, CYM, could direct M phase-specific transcription of a beta-glucuronidase reporter gene in synchronously dividing BY2 tobacco cells. In this study, we determined the regulatory elements contained within the CYM promoter by using a luciferase reporter gene. Mutational analysis showed that a 9-bp element is essential for M phase-specific promoter activity in synchronized BY2 cells. The CYM promoter contains three other sequences similar to this element. A gain-of-function assay demonstrated that when fused to a heterologous promoter, these elements are sufficient for M phase-specific expression; therefore, we named these elements M-specific activators (MSAs). We found MSA-like sequences in B-type cyclin promoters from tobacco, soybean, and Arabidopsis as well as in the promoters of two M phase-specific genes, NACK1 and NACK2, which encode tobacco kinesin-like proteins. Thus, MSA may be a common cis-acting promoter element that controls M phase-specific expression of cell cycle-related genes in plants.

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Selected References

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