The Drosophila zfh-1 and zfh-2 genes encode novel proteins containing both zinc-finger and homeodomain motifs.
Two of the most common DNA-binding motifs found in eukaryotic transcriptional regulatory proteins are the homeodomain and the C2-H2 zinc finger. In Drosophila, homeodomain and zinc-finger proteins have been implicated in a wide variety of developmental processes. Until now, no proteins have been described in which both these DNA-binding motifs are present. We report here the isolation of genes encoding two such Drosophila proteins from a cDNA expression library. The product of the zfh-1 gene (zinc-finger homeodomain protein 1) contains one homeodomain and nine C2-H2 zinc fingers. The product of the zfh-2 gene possesses three homeodomains and sixteen C2-H2 zinc fingers. For zfh-1, antisera raised against nonoverlapping regions of the gene product all recognize a 145 kDa protein on protein immunoblots, suggesting that the different DNA-binding motifs are actually all present in the mature gene product. The novel arrangement of interspersed homeodomain and zinc-finger motifs in the primary sequences of the zfh-1 and zfh-2 gene products may signify an unusual mechanism of transcriptional regulation by these proteins.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley 94720.
M E
ME
Fortini
Z C
ZC
Lai
G M
GM
Rubin
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression; D005801:Genes, Homeobox / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D005809:Genes, Regulator / Q000235:genetics*; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000276:immunology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D016335:Zinc Fingers / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology
D007106:Immune Sera; D004247:DNA