title: Cloning of Drosophila transcription factor Adf-1 reveals homology to Myb oncoproteins.
abstract: The Drosophila sequence-specific DNA binding protein, Adf-1, is capable of activating transcription of the alcohol dehydrogenase gene, Adh, and is implicated in the transcriptional control of other developmentally regulated genes. We have cloned the cDNA encoding Adf-1 by generating specific DNA probes deduced from partial amino acid sequence of the protein. Several cDNA clones encoding an extended open reading frame were isolated from a phage lambda library. The complete amino acid sequence of Adf-1 deduced from the longest cDNA reveals structural similarities to the putative helix-turn-helix DNA binding motif of Myb and Myb-related proteins. DNA sequence analysis of genomic clones and Northern blot analysis of mRNA suggest that Adf-1 is a single-copy gene encoding a 1.9-kb transcript. Purified recombinant Adf-1 expressed in Escherichia coli binds specifically to Adf-1 recognition sites and activates transcription of a synthetic Adh promoter in vitro in a manner indistinguishable from the protein purified from Drosophila. Temporally staged Drosophila embryos immunochemically stained with affinity-purified anti-Adf-1 antibodies indicate that Adf-1 protein is not detectable in very early embryos and does not appear to be maternally inherited. During later stages of embryogenesis, Adf-1 appears to be expressed in the nucleus of most somatic cells in the embryo with possibly higher concentrations found in some tissues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley 94720.
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: England
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Admon
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tjian
mesh_terms: D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression; D005796:Genes; D007158:Immunologic Techniques; D007301:Insect Hormones / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D019476:Insect Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: C072263:Adf1 protein, Drosophila; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D007301:Insect Hormones; D019476:Insect Proteins; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D014157:Transcription Factors; D004247:DNA; D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase