Skip to main content
PMC home page
The EMBO Journal logoLink to The EMBO Journal
. 1985 Jun;4(6):1537–1543. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb03814.x

Transcription signals in embryonic Xenopus laevis U1 RNA genes.

G Ciliberto, R Buckland, R Cortese, L Philipson
PMCID: PMC554379  PMID: 2411541

Abstract

A genomic clone of the most abundant U1 RNA genes from Xenopus laevis was isolated from erythrocyte DNA and sequenced. Two different U1 RNA genes, U1A and U1B, are encoded in an HindIII 1.5-kb fragment and both are expressed after microinjection in Xenopus oocytes. Deletions and site-directed mutagenesis of the clones revealed two promoter elements in the U1B gene; one, located 250-220 nucleotides upstream from the 5' terminus of mature U1 RNA, functions as an activator, yielding a 10-fold promotion of transcription; the other, located 60-50 nucleotides upstream of the cap site, functions as an essential element for promotion of transcription. The U1A gene contained only the latter element in the cloned fragment. Homologous sequences can be identified in several U RNA genes of X. laevis.

Full text

PDF
1537

Images in this article

1538Fig. 1.
on p.1538
1538Fig. 2.
on p.1538
1540Fig. 5.
on p.1540
1541Fig. 7.
on p.1541

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bringmann P., Rinke J., Appel B., Reuter R., Lührmann R. Purification of snRNPs U1, U2, U4, U5 and U6 with 2,2,7-trimethylguanosine-specific antibody and definition of their constituent proteins reacting with anti-Sm and anti-(U1)RNP antisera. EMBO J. 1983;2(7):1129–1135. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1983.tb01557.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Busch H., Reddy R., Rothblum L., Choi Y. C. SnRNAs, SnRNPs, and RNA processing. Annu Rev Biochem. 1982;51:617–654. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.51.070182.003153. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Corden J., Wasylyk B., Buchwalder A., Sassone-Corsi P., Kedinger C., Chambon P. Promoter sequences of eukaryotic protein-coding genes. Science. 1980 Sep 19;209(4463):1406–1414. doi: 10.1126/science.6251548. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cortese R., Melton D., Tranquilla T., Smith J. D. Cloning of nematode tRNA genes and their expression in the frog oocyte. Nucleic Acids Res. 1978 Dec;5(12):4593–4611. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Denison R. A., Van Arsdell S. W., Bernstein L. B., Weiner A. M. Abundant pseudogenes for small nuclear RNAs are dispersed in the human genome. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Feb;78(2):810–814. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.2.810. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Forbes D. J., Kirschner M. W., Caput D., Dahlberg J. E., Lund E. Differential expression of multiple U1 small nuclear RNAs in oocytes and embryos of Xenopus laevis. Cell. 1984 Oct;38(3):681–689. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90263-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Keller W. The RNA lariat: a new ring to the splicing of mRNA precursors. Cell. 1984 Dec;39(3 Pt 2):423–425. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90449-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kristo P., Tsai M. J., O'Malley B. W. Characterization of three chicken pseudogenes for U1 RNA. DNA. 1984 Aug;3(4):281–286. doi: 10.1089/dna.1.1984.3.281. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Lerner M. R., Steitz J. A. Antibodies to small nuclear RNAs complexed with proteins are produced by patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Nov;76(11):5495–5499. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.11.5495. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lund E., Dahlberg J. E., Forbes D. J. The two embryonic U1 small nuclear RNAs of Xenopus laevis are encoded by a major family of tandemly repeated genes. Mol Cell Biol. 1984 Dec;4(12):2580–2586. doi: 10.1128/mcb.4.12.2580. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Lund E., Dahlberg J. E. True genes for human U1 small nuclear RNA. Copy number, polymorphism, and methylation. J Biol Chem. 1984 Feb 10;259(3):2013–2021. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Manser T., Gesteland R. F. Human U1 loci: genes for human U1 RNA have dramatically similar genomic environments. Cell. 1982 May;29(1):257–264. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90110-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Mattaj I. W., Zeller R. Xenopus laevis U2 snRNA genes: tandemly repeated transcription units sharing 5' and 3' flanking homology with other RNA polymerase II transcribed genes. EMBO J. 1983;2(11):1883–1891. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1983.tb01675.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. McGrogan M., Spector D. J., Goldenberg C. J., Halbert D., Raskas H. J. Purification of specific adenovirus 2 RNAs by preparative hybridization and selective thermal elution. Nucleic Acids Res. 1979 Feb;6(2):593–607. doi: 10.1093/nar/6.2.583. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Messing J. New M13 vectors for cloning. Methods Enzymol. 1983;101:20–78. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(83)01005-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Monstein H. J., Hammarström K., Westin G., Zabielski J., Philipson L., Pettersson U. Loci for human U1 RNA: structural and evolutionary implications. J Mol Biol. 1983 Jun 25;167(2):245–257. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(83)80334-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Mount S. M., Pettersson I., Hinterberger M., Karmas A., Steitz J. A. The U1 small nuclear RNA-protein complex selectively binds a 5' splice site in vitro. Cell. 1983 Jun;33(2):509–518. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90432-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Murphy J. T., Burgess R. R., Dahlberg J. E., Lund E. Transcription of a gene for human U1 small nuclear RNA. Cell. 1982 May;29(1):265–274. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90111-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Murray N. E., Brammar W. J., Murray K. Lambdoid phages that simplify the recovery of in vitro recombinants. Mol Gen Genet. 1977 Jan 7;150(1):53–61. doi: 10.1007/BF02425325. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Sanger F., Nicklen S., Coulson A. R. DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Dec;74(12):5463–5467. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.12.5463. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Skuzeski J. M., Lund E., Murphy J. T., Steinberg T. H., Burgess R. R., Dahlberg J. E. Synthesis of human U1 RNA. II. Identification of two regions of the promoter essential for transcription initiation at position +1. J Biol Chem. 1984 Jul 10;259(13):8345–8352. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Southern E. M. Detection of specific sequences among DNA fragments separated by gel electrophoresis. J Mol Biol. 1975 Nov 5;98(3):503–517. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(75)80083-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Zeller R., Carri M. T., Mattaj I. W., De Robertis E. M. Xenopus laevis U1 snRNA genes: characterisation of transcriptionally active genes reveals major and minor repeated gene families. EMBO J. 1984 May;3(5):1075–1081. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1984.tb01931.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Zoller M. J., Smith M. Oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis of DNA fragments cloned into M13 vectors. Methods Enzymol. 1983;100:468–500. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(83)00074-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The EMBO Journal are provided here courtesy of Nature Publishing Group

RESOURCES