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. 1989 Aug;86(16):6033–6037. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.16.6033

Cis-acting elements of the sea urchin histone H2A modulator bind transcriptional factors.

F Palla 1, C Casano 1, I Albanese 1, L Anello 1, F Gianguzza 1, M G Di Bernardo 1, C Bonura 1, G Spinelli 1
PMCID: PMC297769  PMID: 2762313

Abstract

Functional tests, performed by microinjection into Xenopus laevis oocytes, show that a DNA fragment containing the modulator of the early histone H2A gene of Paracentrotus lividus enhances transcription of a reporter gene when located, in the physiological orientation, upstream of the tk basal promoter. Gel retardation and DNase I footprinting assays further reveal that the H2A modulator contains at least two binding sites [upstream sequence elements 1 and 2 (USE 1 and USE 2)] for nuclear factors extracted from sea urchin embryos, which actively transcribe the early histone gene set. Interestingly, USE 1 is highly homologous to a cis-acting element previously identified in the H2A modulator of Psammechinus miliaris [Grosschedl, R., Mächler, M., Rohrer, U. & Birnstiel, M. L. (1983) Nucleic Acids Res. 11, 8123-8136]. Finally, a cloned oligonucleotide containing the USE 1 sequence competes efficiently in Xenopus oocytes with the H2A modulator to prevent enhancement of transcription of the reporter gene. From these results, we conclude that USE 1 and perhaps USE 2 in the H2A modulator are upstream transcriptional elements that are recognized by trans-acting factors common to Xenopus and sea urchin.

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Selected References

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