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. 1987 Apr;84(8):2331–2335. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.8.2331

An enhancer responsible for activating transcription at the midblastula transition in Xenopus development.

P A Krieg, D A Melton
PMCID: PMC304644  PMID: 3470796

Abstract

Transcripts from the Xenopus gene GS17 are absent from oocytes and first appear at the midblastula transition (MBT), about 8 hr after fertilization. Injection experiments with deletions of the GS17 gene and GS17-beta-globin hybrid genes show that a relatively short sequence of 74 base pairs is sufficient to activate, in cis, transcription at the MBT. This 74-base sequence is located about 700 bases upstream of the GS17 promoter and has the properties of an enhancer element.

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